(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66
Singalong 006: Unitedstatesian cultural artifacts
“Well if you ever plan to motor west / Jack, take my way that's the highway that's the best / Get your kicks on Route 66”
Some songs, like "Come Fly With Me" and "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66" are so fully American that I hear them in my head every time I board a flight or take a road trip. I live in San Bernardino County now, and the old Route 66 runs right nearby. There are "Route 66" tourist stops all along the way, though I've never set foot in one.
Route 66 is an idea more than anything, the idea that you can drive a direct earthly route straight out of the human condition and into the American Dream. The actual road brought countless Americans westward in search of a better life. Route 66 predates the interstate highway system.
The song was written by Bobby Troup with considerable contributions from his wife, Cynthia. I associate it with the 50's, but "Route 66" was first released in 1946. It hit me for the first time when I heard Kevin Mahogany sing it at the Jazz Standard in New York in the 90's, and while the original Nat King Cole version remains the definitive one, I'm partial to the Chuck Berry cut. Chuck was his own kind of trailblazer. And Chuck idolized Nat King Cole for his clean diction.
Being about a literal road, the song is everywhere and nowhere. And we'll always have it, it's one of the most unitedstatesian cultural artifacts out here.
“Well it winds from Chicago to L.A. / More than 2000 miles all the way”
I took my first real road trip when I was six. My dad and I drove in a rusty orange VW bus to Guadalajara, Mexico, where we lived for the next year. That bus had a hole in the floor, you could see the road going by right underneath. It was 1979 and something about that trip planted a seed in me.
I think we wound our way down via Dallas, and the trip was just endless to my child brain. It took us a week to get there. We stayed in a lot of campgrounds along the way, I remember 16mm movies being shown outdoors and Yogi Bear statues everywhere. It was a bonding experience for my dad and I, though it wasn't all about Camp Jellystone.
“Won't you get hip to this timely tip / and take that California trip”
I've since driven all around America more times than I could ever count. Moving house, touring, some very long commutes... driving great distances over land is just the most American thing. You only realize it when you travel to other countries and the going gets a lot slower. Public transportation is faster in other countries, road trips (besides in Germany) are slower.
This song speaks entirely for itself. When I hear it, I feel like I am standing in the lobby of the Tower of Song.
But when I sing it, I feel like I'm still six years old. Just driving around with Dad.