Friday, August 7, 2009

King of the Road

I've been finding myself humming this song although I couldn't get some of the lyrics. Heard it in the movie 'Into the Wild' which has really good OSTs by Eddie Vedder and Kaki King. This one though is not an OST. It is a classic country song by Roger Miller. Awesome. Makes you realize why the classics are called classics. :)



Trailers for sale or rent
Rooms to let...fifty cents.
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes
Ah, but..two hours of pushin' broom
Buys an eight by twelve four-bit room
I'm a man of means by no means
King of the road.

Third boxcar, midnight train
Destination...Bangor, Maine.
Old worn out suits and shoes,
I don't pay no union dues,
I smoke old stogies I have found
Short, but not too big around
I'm a man of means by no means
King of the road.

I know every engineer on every train
All of their children, and all of their names
And every handout in every town
And every lock that ain't locked
When no one's around.

I sing,
Trailers for sale or rent
Rooms to let, fifty cents
No phone, no pool, no pets
I ain't got no cigarettes
Ah, but, two hours of pushin' broom
Buys an eight by twelve four-bit room
I'm a man of means by no means
King of the road.

4 comments:

Arpita said...

haha.. yeah i know.. the feel of the song is fabulously lazy and chilled.. i can see the supertramp sitting around singing this to himself on a random day full of nothings.. :)

Flickering Flame said...

supertramp... i fell in love with that word. :)

am back from b'lore..!! went to some places in and around bangalore - CFL, Shibumi & Rishi Valley (all schools) and Navadarshanam of course. will write abt it if i can get some time.

i myself am feeling a bit like a tramp right now - jobless, wandering/travelling and not knowing what's gonna happen next in my life.

Arpita said...

On your way to being a supertramp? That sounds great to me :) Maybe someday i will too...

You know based on that movie i went and got some of the books he was reading.. in particular Jack London. Call of the Wild. You might like it.

Flickering Flame said...

supertramp? me? ah... no way. i am just a trekker and traveller. and that too not a really good one at that. seriously. :) i met so many veteran trekkers while in the annapurna region in nepal that i honestly felt quite amatuerish comapred to them.

am in varanasi now. came here to meet someone at KFI and then stayed on for a few days. will be back in crazy 'ol mumbai in 2 days. will write more about my looong trek then. i did muchof it solo! :) it was great. after i get back, i might leave for a week-long trek along the coastal stretch of karnataka. not sure about that as yet. i have talk about the plans to some folks.

talking about being a tramp though, it is great in one sense, but can't live that way forever. the bigger questions of finding meaning in one's life still remain. there is this apt quote - you may travel around the world, but you have to return to yourself.

what do you say?