Saturday, July 27, 2013

Red Simpson - Truck Drivin' Fool

I'm helping a friend move today, because that's what friends do.  Moving means hard, honest labor.  And trucks.  Yup, there's a country music song for that.  Boy, howdy - there's a selection of country songs for that.

Red Simpson is old school country, from the 1960s.  For some reason, trucking became one of his signature themes - not only did he record "20 Great Truck Hits", but he even gave a Trucker's Christmas album to a grateful world.

I must say that while I hated being away from the family all that time while I was in FOB Borepatch in Austin, I didn't mind those long haul drives.  There's something about the open road, the long distance travel, about pointing your wheels towards the sunset.  A poetry, almost.

Me, I'm a piker when it comes to trucks.  Sure, I'll load and drive, and unload, and whine about my aching muscles at the end of the day.  But it's honest labor.  Some do it for an honorable living, some (like me) do it because that's what friends do. 



Truck Drivin' Fool (Songwriter: Red Simpson)
Well I drove the truck from New York all the way to San Antone
And it's a mighty long haul when you're all alone
But I like drivin' trucks and I make my livin' this way
Well I'm a truck drivin' fool and that's how I'm a gonna stay

I like to hear that diesel as it keeps on a hummin' along
I'm a shiftin' these gears and I'm singin' myself a song
Well I see a lotta country as I go on my way
Yeah I'm a truck drivin' fool and that's how I'm gonna stay

Yeah I'm a truck drivin' fool and trucks have got the best of me
I guess I'll never settle down cause I couldn't stay you see
Cause when I'm drivin' that truck I'm like a schoolboy out to play
Yeah I'm a truck drivin' fool and that's how I'm gonna stay

Once I started to marry a gal in a little country town
But she didn't like my truck so way went around and around
She tried to affect me and that's where she went astray
Cause I'm a truck drivin' fool and that's how I'm gonna stay
I'm a truck drivin' fool and that's how I'm gonna stay

2 comments:

joethefatman said...

After a lot of years behind the wheel, I finally was forced out due to an injury. I miss the road more than I'll ever be able to explain. I was born to pull a flatbed. It's all I ever wanted to do.

Wraith said...

I love being paid to go places that folks come from all over the world to see.