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