Country Music: The Truck Drivin’ Genre
Like any genre, country music has certain themes that keep popping up. You’ve got your party songs, your love songs, your revenge songs, and your patriotic songs, just to name a few.
While these are some of the more common themes that pop up in country music, there’s another that is rooted deep in tradition.
Anyone who’s been a fan of country music for some time has likely noticed how often country artists sing about life out on the road.
Many of these songs actually serve as a homage to those resilient men and women who make a living as truck drivers. Some such songs are Alabama‘s “Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)” and the Zac Brown Band‘s “Colder Weather.”
The Theme Keeps Running Into Marty’s Music
Other songs about life on the road simply speak to the wandering spirit someone feels inside. Such songs include Waylon Jennings‘ “Ramblin’ Man” and Miranda Lambert‘s “Highway Vagabond.”
But out of all the country songs out there that appeal to this theme, Marty Stuart thinks that Merle Haggard had the best. “Merle still has the winning truck driving song line: ‘I want to die along the highway and rot away like some old high-line pole, rest this rambling fever in my soul,‘” he said, referencing Haggard’s 1977 song “Ramblin’ Fever.”
Stuart himself released a song that travels down the same path as “Ramblin’ Fever” and other songs about life on the road. The song, called “Whole Lotta Highway (With a Million Miles to Go)” honors that decades-long tradition in country music.
“Whole Lotta Highway” is the first song that Stuart released off of his album, Way Out West.
The album itself is meant to celebrate the beauty that can be found in the state of California. Since the album is about a journey out west, a song called “Whole Lotta Highway” makes perfect sense to include.
For Stuart, it was a song that he found to be irresistible. “I’ve always been a sucker for a truck driving song,” he told Rolling Stone. “It’s a true song, lived through, written from years of experience.”
With lyrics such as, “I was born to be a truck drivin’ man. Driven every mile of backwoods, coast to coast throughout this land,” this catchy tune would be perfect to jam out to on your next road trip.
Go ahead and tune in below to hear Stuart’s song, “Whole Lotta Highway.” Let us know what you think of it!