On the Road Again

For my Simon and Garfunkel post I almost used "Homeward Bound", a song I really like. But at the last moment I realized that it was a whiny "life's rough on the road" song, and I wasn't in the mood. It seems that every band and singer sooner or later writes a song about how tough life on the road is. I don't doubt them, I wouldn't won't to do it, but it doesn't really connect with the rest of us who live lives tethered to one location. And then there is Willie Nelson. He looks at the life of the traveling musician and says "Oh Boy!"

I am also reminded by a story I heard recently. One of my co-workers is a rather interesting 19 year old girl who is big into the "underground" music scene. She promotes a lot of concerts and bands, and has been for several years, despite her youth. Let's call her Music Girl. Well music girl has some friends in a band that were given the opportunity to do a mini-tour opening for Willie. They, of course, jumped at the opportunity. Willie even invite them to ditch the van and ride his tour bus. How cool is that? Well... It turns out that Willie has two states of being; sleeping and playing his guitar. He doesn't sleep much. After ten hours on the bus listening to Willie doodle in the corner, they were ready to scream. And they only had ten days left.

When Willie sings this song, he evidently means it, and really doesn't undersand how anyone could feel any other way.