[MUSIC] THE SAVAGE ANIMAL "8 Songs About Destinations(& How to Get There!)"
08.29.12
BY MIKEY MIGO
Motely Crue tells us a sweet story on “Home Sweet Home”, but what is the route? I’ve been told by Jim Morrison to “keep my eyes on the road and hands up on the wheel”, but where are we driving to? I’d love to party in “Funkytown”, but how the hell do we get there?
There are songs about traveling and there are songs about destinations. How many of those songs actually tell us how to get to a specific destination? More often than you’d think!
SONG: “Road To Nowhere” by Talking Heads
DESTINATION: Nowhere
TRAVEL METHOD: Road
This 1985 song is a great one. It’s not only one of Talking Heads most successful and biggest hits, but it’s been used in a lot of movies and things like that. The melody and dry harmony makes you feel like you’re on a journey within the song. Basically, that’s a long winded way of saying it’s easy to get lost in. I suppose that’s not a bad thing when your destination is nowhere.
SONG: “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC
DESTINATION: Hell
TRAVEL METHOD: Highway
This specific AC/DC song takes us on a ride to hell. The shit part is that we have to take a highway. Knowing the economy these days, there is probably A LOT of tolls along the way. I’ve always been partial to “Back in Black”, but “Highway to Hell” is up there. There was a period in time when AC/DC decided to unleash like a million memorable songs. Has anyone investigated if AC/DC has stock in dive bar jukeboxes? I think we all have questions…
SONG: “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin
DESTINATION: Heaven
TRAVEL METHOD: Stairway
Quite contrary to AC/DC’s toll-road to hades, Led Zeppelin not only gives us one of the greatest roll and roll songs of all time, but direction on how to get to heaven. The mode of transportation suggested is via stairway. The idea of heaven is generally “up in the sky”. Imagine how long of a walk it would be up that staircase. It’s not 1971 anymore. Can’t we get an escalator installed by now?
SONG: “Last Train to Clarksville” by The Monkees
DESTINATION: Clarksville
TRAVEL METHOD: Train
I’ve always had a soft spot for The Monkees. I think they’ve generally gotten a bad rap by music snobs for a long time. This is one of those songs why I think they deserve their props. It’s a great song, it’s soulful, and it’s definitely a song about getting someone specific. This song is about a military guy who tells his girlfriend to hurry up and get to him before he has to ship out. He tells the girl to “take the last train to Clarksville and I’ll meet you at the station.” That’s pretty damn precise. This dude is not screwing around.
SONG: “Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight & the Pips
DESTINATION: Georgia
TRAVEL METHOD: Train
This is clearly Gladys Knight and the Pips’ most known and biggest song. It won the 1974 Grammy for Best R&B by a Group and it’s embedded into Americana music forever. The song is about a strong woman who is so in love that she decides to move to Georgia to be with her man. It’s a really fun and danceable disco-soul song. It’s just strange that the spontaneous attitude forces her to go with the midnight train. That can’t be the safest idea. Oh the 70s!
SONG: “Fly Me To The Moon” by Bart Howard
DESTINATION: Moon
TRAVEL METHOD: Flying
The versions of this song that I’m most familiar with is the awesome renditions by Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett. The song is about flying to the moon! Long before the idea of it being possible was around, old swinger types were making ladies swoon with the idea. They even played the Sinatra version on the Apollo 10 orbital mission and then on the moon itself for Apollo 11 by astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
SONG: “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf
DESTINATION: Adventure and/or Whatever Comes My Way
TRAVEL METHOD: Motorized Vehicle
Maybe it’s a little vague, but what wasn’t in the late 60’s? Plus, its Steppenwolf so who are we to judge? The song was in Easy Rider so it’s safe to assume that the motor would be a motorcycle. The location here is also vague, but we do know they’re looking for adventure and whatever comes their way. Apparently this is what people who are born to be wild do. You can’t hate that.
SONG: “I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers
DESTINATION: 500 Miles Away!
TRAVEL METHOD: Walking
The idea here is that there is so much love for someone that they’d walk 500 miles just to be with them. That’s a whole lot of walking. Augusta, ME to Los Angeles, CA is about 3300 miles. The Proclaimers hit it big with this song. It’s hard to believe that it came out in 1988 in the UK, but didn’t blow up huge in the United States until 1993. It’s one of the catchiest and most up-beat love songs I can think of. I really can’t think of many things as liberating as shouting along to the “dah-dah-dah!” portion of the song.
What is YOUR favorite song that tells you how to get somewhere? No, seriously…
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