| To some, trucks and lorries may seem | | | | our current fears about government |
| functional, but not exactly prime inspiration | | | | interference: "If you load too light you |
| for songwriting. But maybe that's why you're | | | | can't make a dime, if you load too heavy then |
| not a multi-platinum selling artist, because | | | | you get a fine." The song does have an upbeat |
| all of these artists have managed to find | | | | ending however, highlighting the best part of |
| their muse in the form of the humble HGV or | | | | many a long distance haulier's day: "Oh the |
| the owner operator's job... 69 Eyes - Truck | | | | motor's purrin' I'm makin' time Takin' me |
| On While some have used the lorry as a | | | | back to that baby of mine She'll be purrin' |
| metaphor for life, Finnish gothic metalers 69 | | | | like a kitten When I walk in the door The |
| Eyes talk no uncertain terms about the lorry | | | | truck driver blues I won't sing anymore" |
| as means to deliver loads from one place to | | | | David Lynn Jones - Bonnie Jean (Little |
| another. Things do get a bit weird at one | | | | Sister) A country ballad about a woman left |
| point though - perhaps the lead singer is | | | | by her husband with 3 young children to look |
| getting stir crazy from being in his cab all | | | | after who takes up long distance lorry work |
| night: "Well I'm drivin' amok Doggone's my | | | | to make ends meet. It's a sad tale, but some |
| luck But I don't give a **** And I'm feelin' | | | | of the details will sound familiar to all |
| mean Bleedin' gasoline Would you lick it | | | | truckers: "She's a runnin' down the road from |
| clean?" Despite the theme of the song and the | | | | coast to coast, It's the little things she |
| obvious rhyme, the censored word is | | | | misses the most She's a mother all day and a |
| definitely not "Truck"... Pavement - Heaven | | | | trucker all night Livin' on coffee and |
| is a Truck The song title makes it look like | | | | mini-whites" Weird Al Yankovic - Truck |
| Stephen Malkmus is going to create a stunning | | | | Drivin' Song Comedy songwriter Weird Al |
| ode to the truck as paradise... though the | | | | Yankovic's Truck Driving Song starts off in |
| lyrics give the impression that Pavement's | | | | much the same style as the other truck songs: |
| idea of heaven is slightly more down to earth | | | | "I'm driving a truck Drivin' a big ol' truck |
| than most of us: "Heaven is a truck It got | | | | Pedal to the metal, hope I don't run out of |
| stuck On a breeze Asked the driver nicely, I | | | | luck" But quickly goes a little strange: |
| need a lift? I need release The sands in the | | | | "Rollin' down the highway until the break of |
| boats On the rose-covered floats" Yello - The | | | | dawn Drivin' a truck with my high heels on" |
| Lorry Swiss electronica act Yello played up | | | | The song continues this theme to reverse the |
| the lonely elements of long distance haulage | | | | macho stereotype of the industry, probably |
| in their ode to lorries. "Inside my lorry I | | | | angering a few truckers in the process: "Oh, |
| am driving through the night Inside my lorry | | | | I don't mind when my crotchless panties creep |
| The world does look all right Five to five | | | | right up on me And my nipple rings don't |
| I've got to drive And if you ask me where I | | | | bother me too much But when I hit those big |
| go I tell you coast to coast is what I do" As | | | | speed bumps My darling little rhinestone |
| they're Swiss, we'll forgive them not knowing | | | | pumps Keep slippin' off the mother-lovin' |
| that "go" and "do" don't rhyme. Bobby Bare - | | | | clutch" Of course, lorries aren't the only |
| Truck Driver, Truck Driver Bobby Bare's truck | | | | bigger industrial vehicles that have inspired |
| driving song is taken slightly differently, | | | | songwriters - here's two more which move |
| all sung from the perspective of "a highway | | | | slightly further away from the trucking |
| bum" hitching a ride, making increasingly | | | | remit. The Wurzels - Combine Harvester The |
| bold requests. Starting of with "Don't | | | | number one single - a reworking of "Brand New |
| suppose you could sorta scoot over a little | | | | Key" by Melanie was a change of direction for |
| bit and give me a little more room cause I | | | | the band, after the death of songwriter Adge |
| got long legs" via asking for cigarettes and | | | | Cutler - at this point, the band moved away |
| the truckers jacket all the way up to "I see | | | | from original composition and in to altering |
| in that plastic frame a picture of a sexy | | | | other people's work. The West Country band |
| blonde and you know that's my kind of dame, | | | | moved away from farms and cider to pen |
| man I'd really like to grab onto your wife | | | | another trucking themed song "I Want to be an |
| huh." Eventually the patience of the truck | | | | Eddie Stobart Driver" Nizlopi - JCB Song |
| driver is worn out, and the hitcher says "Now | | | | Alt-folk act Nizlopi made it big by having |
| if you lend me a dollar and half I'll move on | | | | the Christmas number one in 2005 - a song |
| down the line." James Coffey - Hard Workin' | | | | about a boy escaping into a fantasy world on |
| Truck We've seen truck songs from the | | | | his Dad's JCB away from the bullies at |
| perspective of the driver and the passenger, | | | | school. Aside from having a delightful video, |
| but this one sets a new trend by being sung | | | | the song is notable for its sudden change of |
| by the vehicle itself! The song outlines all | | | | fortune - the Christmas single was a |
| the tasks that lorries can comfortably | | | | re-release of a song which had made #160 in |
| accomplish including picking up rubbish, | | | | the charts on its first go 6 months earlier. |
| digging ditches, construction work and | | | | So if you spot a lorry heading past you on |
| haulage. The vehicle is evidently boastful | | | | the motorway, or take on an owner operator |
| about its talents: "No load is too heavy for | | | | job, perhaps its time to pull out the guitar |
| my rig, no hill too high, no job too big..." | | | | and start strumming! |
| Bill Monroe - Lonesome Truck Driver Blues As | | | | |
| the title of this truck driving song | | | | Lyall Cresswell is the Managing Director for |
| suggests... this is another song highlighting | | | | the Transport Exchange Group. Haulage |
| the loneliness of the open road. The song | | | | Exchange, their freight exchange for the 7.5 |
| describes the entire journey all the way down | | | | tonne and above market, offers an independent |
| to the truckstops, but the drivers' concerns | | | | environment for its members to exchange |
| about the road laws certainly ring true with | | | | haulage and owner operator jobs. |