Turn the music up,
Keep your eyes on the road,
You're looking sorta sleepy,
Or is it just bored?
Something with a heartbeat,
And lyrics you can hear,
So your mind stays alert,
And your direction is clear.
The night is so black,
And the lines so white,
Can't see the way ahead,
Beyond our headlights.
Is this the way home?
Did we cross a wrong bridge?
Did we miss a sharp turn?
Are we heading for a ditch?
Keep a grip on the wheel,
Just sayin how I feel,
Just sayin how I feel.
Everything's a blur,
We're moving so fast,
It's hard to keep track,
Of what we just passed.
It's been a long time,
Since I've felt in control,
My mind keeps screaming,
You're heading for a hole.
I think we talked -
I've had some accidents,
And you can't really repair,
All your scratches and dents.
I need reassurance,
And it has to come from you,
I'm trying to find a way,
To enjoy the view.
Keep a grip on the wheel,
Just sayin how I feel,
Just sayin how I feel.
5 comments:
I like this one! You're quite prolific, my friend ... you might have had a job working in the Brill Building! One hit after another!
I think you should rename this one: "Backseat Driver". I feel like you conferred with my wife on the lyrics. I can hear her "singing" this to me as I'm driving on a long road trip.
Also, some terrific guitar work!
I don’t know how I feel about this one. It was a struggle to record, which I didn’t expect. Your encouragement means a lot. A strange story accompanies this one. I actually wrote the lyrics last weekend. My wife and I were driving to the cottage (only an hour) and for a change she was driving. She was having a hard time staying awake at the wheel, and voila. But that’s not the strange part. Sadly, a few days later I attended a funeral. The deceased was the son of my first cousin’s husband. He was in his forties. Among other talents he was a playwright and pop culture aficionado. His plays focused on rock music (one was called ‘Led Zeppelin was a cover band’). Anyway, cantor Gideon Zellermeyer was at the funeral. You may know him from his work singing on Leonard Cohen’s last album. The reason he was there? The deceased’s final request was to have the cantor sing Thunder Road. You can’t believe how moving it was! Springsteen’s lyrics were given fresh meaning. Why do I mention this? The driving theme and redemption of course.
Wow, this information certainly gives a different texture to your poem. You should have a way to tell the backstory to your poems as part of your site. The poem and the backstory.
I knew you were Leonard Cohen but I didn't know you were a Springsteen fan. I guess it stands to reason. Forgive me if if I come off as snobby or pedantic, but unless you lived in the NY/NJ environs in the early 70s you can't fully appreciate the early Springsteen albums. A line like "it's a town full of lovers, I'm pulling out of here to win" ... he was like the epic poet of that time and that place.
I’ve been a huge Springsteen fan since Born To Run. A masterpiece in my opinion. Operatic, dramatic and poetic as The Who’s Quadrophenia. Bought Dark Side, bought The River, bought Nebraska. Stopped at Born the USA, which felt like Bruce had sold out. Although I also bought and love Tunnel of Love, which felt like a return to personal Bruce. I think we’ve debated about Dylan and Springsteen as songwriters. I’ve always preferred Springsteen because his writing his more coherent, leaner, more narrative and easier to follow. Springsteen never seemed to have an identity crisis like Dylan. But of course, without Dylan there’s no Springsteen. As for Thunder Road, you’ve never heard a line like ‘we’re riding out tonight to case the Promised Land’ until you’ve heard it sung by a cantor at a funeral.
We agree on most things. I, too, thought that the post-Born in the USA Springsteen had morphed into something different and not as relatable for me.
Why can't we agree on Dylan? One day ... but I might be dead by then. Hehe.
Speaking of which, hearing the cantor at a funeral sing that line, I can imagine, would indeed be something.
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