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Road Buddy Lyrics
We passed the stores, passed the hotels, filled our car with gas and then
We drove that night, I saw the moon, almost got us in an accident
And then at the rest stop, when that woman tried to steal my wallet
It felt like an adventure, well isn't that what you would call it?
Isn't that what you would call it?
You're my road buddy, but I'm lonely all the time
I thought that we'd be joking, having long talks on late nights driving
But you drive so bad I lost my patience
So pass the chips and turn the station
This is not a romance with the road
From where the moss grows up the trees to where the dirt is rusty red
I thought we'd find each story like a snakeskin or an arrowhead
But we only stop at fast food places, they hate their jobs, I understand
I try to act familiar but they're floating just above the land
And we are floating
You're my road buddy, but I'm lonely all the time
I thought we'd show that friendship could be stronger than the crossroads devil
But I thought I heard the toll man saying
"I'll take that thing you got from praying"
This is not a romance with the road
And those cliffs are the same as in the magazines I have at hom
And the tall grass reminds me of the same dreams I had at home
I thought life was a road so I wanted to begin it
I said "My friend and I are going on a trip, so I can only stop a minute."
You go to the vending machines, I want to watch those kids with their mother
Sipping on their juice boxes and smiling at each other
And maybe that's their Dad on the phone, saying "Hey, Mom, youshouldn't wait,
Go ahead, have dinner cause we're running just a little late,
But we're on our way."
How 'bout it, road buddy, road buddy
I heard about the box cars and the family of travellers
But there's real estate signs in the cornfield stubble
I know there's love, I bet there's trouble
But you just can't span a lifetime from the road
And there's something I've finally faced, I finally think I come from someplace
But this is not a romance with the road
Song Info
Submitted by
aur0ra On Dec 06, 2001
More Dar Williams
Iowa (Traveling III)
When I Was a Boy
As Cool As I Am
February
The Christians and the Pagans
From an interview:
Gabino: Do you ever have gaps in your schedule where you'd spend three days in Winnipeg or something? Dar Williams: When I was in Austin the last time I spent three days there. I had two nights of show and a day off. And I went to a yoga class, I got flowers for my room. I swam at Barton Springs. I went to Waterloo Records. I ran. I practiced. I watched a lot of TV. And I wrote a song. I had done that no TV thing. I was actually in Edmonton, and I said, "No TV, no radio, no books, no nothing. See what comes out." And I went crazy! And I wrote a song. I wrote "Road Buddy." And then I said, Fuck that. As much TV as I want to watch, and sure enough I got sick of it. And I wrote another song. "If I Wrote You." Which is superior. It's better than "Road Buddy."
later in the same interview..
You've been to Edmonton before. You wrote a song between Edmonton and Calgary... How did you know that?
Because it's in... Because it's in my little liner notes.
How? Were you driving? You couldn't have been driving to write the song, or did you stop to write it? I stopped. I think it was that place that has the big tea pot hanging above it. Called Glenn's or something like that.
Is that in Red Deer? It might be, it's closer to Red Deer than...
You stopped there and you wrote a song? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was there. And I had started to write it and had come up with this melody and then I took notes at the restaurant. It was all about the mythology of the road.
And you used the word "beautiful highway" to describe the song, and I, having been here... Ew. I didn't, I didn't call it a beautiful highway. I'm sorry. It was February. I just drove up from Calgary today and it's quite pretty, but in February... I was also going through a thing where I wanted to see what my mind would do if I decided not to watch television or listen to the radio, and so I was kind of stuck with my thoughts, and it just took a yucky, a bad turn. But out of that void came a lot of the melody and the preliminary first material for Road Buddy, so unfortunately, that is the way to be creative, is to kind of find a sensory deprivation tank for yourself.
My thoughts...
This is about going on a road trip with someone. You think you're going to have so much fun with your friend, but you really just get on each other's nerves. I've had this happen to me actually. It sucks and then you're stuck thinking about your friendship with the other person.