I’ve always liked this song, perhaps even more so than The Wallflowers’s best known song, One Headlight. Jakob Dylan (who certainly has the talent necessary to be worthy of being known as something more than just “Bob’s son”) was inspired to write this song by a homeless man who he used to see on 6th Avenue. One day, the homeless man was gone but all of his possessions were still sitting on the sidewalk. As the days passed, the man’s possessions disappeared one-by-one. Jakob considers this to be the first true song that he ever wrote.
This music video was directed by David Fincher, who you may have heard of.
Today’s song of the day comes from the soundtrack of Ruggeo Deodato’s The House On The Edge of the Park. Composed by Riz Ortolani and sung by Diana Corsini, Sweetly Oh Sweetly may sound like an innocent song but its use in Deodato’s controversial film is anything but that.
On this Labor Day, our song of the day is dedicated to all of the independents out there. Convoy is usually described (somewhat dismissively) as being either a one-hit wonder or a novelty song but seriously, “We just ain’t gonna pay no toll,” is one of the greatest lyrics ever written and, in this post-COVID era, it’s a reminder that the human spirit was never meant to be regulated.
Someone tell the authoritarians. Someone warn the bureaucrats. Someone alert anyone who thinks they have the right to tell other people how to live their lives. We’ve got a mighty convoy and it’s a beautiful sight.
Ah, breaker one-nine, this here’s the Rubber Duck. You gotta copy on me, Pig Pen, c’mon? Ah, yeah, 10-4, Pig Pen, fer shure, fer shure. By golly, it’s clean clear to Flag Town, c’mon. Yeah, that’s a big 10-4 there, Pig Pen, yeah, we definitely got the front door, good buddy. Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy…
Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June In a Kenworth pullin’ logs Cab-over Pete with a reefer on And a Jimmy haulin’ hogs
We is headin’ for bear on I-10 ‘Bout a mile outta Shaky Town I says, “Pig Pen, this here’s the Rubber Duck” “And I’m about to put the hammer down”
‘Cause we got a little convoy Rockin’ through the night Yeah, we got a little convoy Ain’t she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy Ain’t nothin’ gonna get in our way We gonna roll this truckin’ convoy ‘Cross the USA, convoy
Ah, breaker, Pig Pen, this here’s the Duck. And, you wanna back off them hogs? Yeah, 10-4, ’bout five mile or so. Ten, roger. Them hogs is gettin’ in-tense up here
By the time we got into Tulsa Town We had eighty-five trucks in all But they’s a roadblock up on the cloverleaf And them bears was wall-to-wall
Yeah, them smokies is thick as bugs on a bumper They even had a bear in the air I says, “Callin’ all trucks, this here’s the Duck We about to go a-huntin’ bear”
‘Cause we got a great big convoy Rockin’ through the night Yeah, we got a great big convoy Ain’t she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy Ain’t nothin’ gonna get in our way We gonna roll this truckin’ convoy ‘Cross the USA, convoy
Ah, you wanna give me a 10-9 on that, Pig Pen? Negatory, Pig Pen; you’re still too close. Yeah, them hogs is startin’ to close up my sinuses. Mercy sakes, you better back off another ten
Well, we rolled up Interstate 44 Like a rocket sled on rails We tore up all of our swindle sheets And left ’em settin’ on the scales
By the time we hit that Chi-town Them bears was a-gettin’ smart They’d brought up some reinforcements From the Illinois National Guard
There’s armored cars and tanks and jeeps And rigs of ev’ry size Yeah, them chicken coops was full’a bears And choppers filled the skies
Well, we shot the line and we went for broke With a thousand screamin’ trucks An’ eleven long-haired Friends a’ Jesus In a chartreuse micra-bus
Ah, Rubber Duck to Sodbuster, come over. Yeah, 10-4, Sodbuster? Lissen, you wanna put that micra-bus right behind that suicide jockey? Yeah, he’s haulin’ dynamite, and he needs all the help he can get
Well, we laid a strip for the Jersey shore And prepared to cross the line I could see the bridge was lined with bears But I didn’t have a dog-goned dime
I says, “Pig Pen, this here’s the Rubber Duck We just ain’t a-gonna pay no toll” So we crashed the gate doing ninety-eight I says “Let them truckers roll, 10-4”
‘Cause we got a mighty convoy Rockin’ through the night Yeah, we got a mighty convoy Ain’t she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy Ain’t nothin’ gonna get in our way We gonna roll this truckin’ convoy ‘Cross the USA
Convoy! Ah, 10-4, Pig Pen, what’s your twenty? Convoy! Omaha? Well, they oughta know what to do with them hogs out there fer shure. Well, mercy Convoy! sakes, good buddy, we gonna back on outta here, so keep the bugs off your glass and the bears off your… Convoy! tail. We’ll catch you on the flip-flop. This here’s the Rubber Duck on the side Convoy! We gone. ‘Bye,’bye
Through the Shattered Lens 