The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
I'm going to Colorado
To unload my head
I'm going to New York City
And that's in New York, friends
I'm going to Arizona
Sex on the rocks all warm and red
And we bled
And the writing in the stall said
"we write our maps in the stalls"
I'm going up to Alaska
I'm going to get off scot-fucking-free
And we all did
This truckers atlas roads the ways
The freeways and highways don't know
The buzz from the bird on my dash
Road locomotive phone
I don't feel and I feel great
I sold my atlas by the freight stairs
I do lines and I crossed roads
I crossed the lines of all the great state roads
I'm going up
Going over to Montana
You got yourself a trucker's atlas
You knew you were all hot
Maybe you'll go and blow a gasket
You start at the northwest corner
Go down through California
Beeline you might drive three days
Three nights to the tip of Florida
Do you speak the lingo?
Oh Oh No. No no
How far does your road go?
Oh no, you don't know
I'm going to Colorado
To unload my head
I'm going to New York City
And that's in New York, friends
I'm going up to Alaska
I'm going to get off scot-fucking-free
And we all did
And the writing in the salt says
We ride out to the stars
I'm going to Arizona
Sex on the rocks all warm and red
This truckers atlas roads the ways
The freeways and highways don't know
The buzz from the bird on my dash
Road locomotive phone
To unload my head
I'm going to New York City
And that's in New York, friends
I'm going to Arizona
Sex on the rocks all warm and red
And we bled
And the writing in the stall said
"we write our maps in the stalls"
I'm going up to Alaska
I'm going to get off scot-fucking-free
And we all did
This truckers atlas roads the ways
The freeways and highways don't know
The buzz from the bird on my dash
Road locomotive phone
I don't feel and I feel great
I sold my atlas by the freight stairs
I do lines and I crossed roads
I crossed the lines of all the great state roads
I'm going up
Going over to Montana
You got yourself a trucker's atlas
You knew you were all hot
Maybe you'll go and blow a gasket
You start at the northwest corner
Go down through California
Beeline you might drive three days
Three nights to the tip of Florida
Do you speak the lingo?
Oh Oh No. No no
How far does your road go?
Oh no, you don't know
I'm going to Colorado
To unload my head
I'm going to New York City
And that's in New York, friends
I'm going up to Alaska
I'm going to get off scot-fucking-free
And we all did
And the writing in the salt says
We ride out to the stars
I'm going to Arizona
Sex on the rocks all warm and red
This truckers atlas roads the ways
The freeways and highways don't know
The buzz from the bird on my dash
Road locomotive phone
Lyrics submitted by PLANES, edited by Prince Of Peace, QuiteRad, ApacheTomcat
Truckers Atlas Lyrics as written by Isaac Brock Eric Judy
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
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Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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Great version of a great song,
road locomotive is a tractor trailer. ie a big rig.
trucks use cbs to find out where cops are
so road locomotive phone. truckers talk about were cops are. the most common place for cbs are either on the dashboard or attached to the top panel of the windshield. so thats where the buzz on the dash comes from.
birds are also at times reffered to as radar detecors. when cops are around they sing like birds.
depending on the driver the definition to the above differs.
as far as doing lines (regardelss of drug) truckers get paid by the mile. so the more miles drice, the more money you get paid. which is why for every 15 hours you drive, you have to get 8 hours of rest. but people pad logs... ie driving 3 days for cali to florida, which is easily done.
beyond that the drug references arent hard to read into