Comment
And the winner for best travel song is...
The Grammys put right
Every year the Recording Academy holds a big shindig to honor recording artists and technical professionals for their achievements: The Grammy® Awards.
With over 100 categories in which an honoree can be recognized, you'd think that a nod would be given to every possible cranny of the music business, but that's not the case.
In what can only be described as an amazing oversight, there is no category for "Travel Songs." Can you believe it? Well, to correct this longstanding omission by the Academy, I offer here my nominees for the Best Travel Tunes in the following sub-categories:
Leaving on a Jet Plane
Peter, Paul and Mary
Who among us hasn't had this melody rumble through our heads at least one time as we picked up a boarding pass at an airline ticket counter or walked through an airport concourse or ambled down a jetway onto an airplane?
Surfin' USA
The Beach Boys
Dude, this golden oldie was still on the charts forever when I lived on the California coast. It seemed to be especially popular among my contemporaries—you know, the geezers wearing the "Old Guys Rule" T-shirts and asking for AARP discounts at the surf shops.
I've Been Everywhere
Hank Snow
This is one of those songs you have to pay attention to. You may not want to, but you have to. The first time you hear it, you listen in wonder; the second time, you listen for your city. From then on you just try to shadow it, never quite able to keep up the pace.
I've Been Everywhere
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash recorded this now-classic C&W tune, which has been used in a television advertising campaign for Choice Hotels International. If you haven't heard the original—and you should—you've certainly heard this version.
Travelin' Man
Rick Nelson
Rick Nelson (I still remember him as Ricky) sang of a less hurried time when we looked forward to traveling because we were going to find romance at our destination—unlike travel today where we are more likely to find some irritated customer.
Come Monday
Jimmy Buffett
Sometimes—okay, lots of times—the best part of traveling is going home. Jimmy Buffett longs to get off the road. [Listening note: I've found this ballad is best appreciated when heard over the roar of a blender full of margaritas.]
On the Road Again
Willie Nelson
Willie Nelson has created the quintessential travel song. Is there anyone here who hasn't sung the title refrain from this ditty while packing for yet another trip or while driving to the local airport? Hands? I thought so.
Best Local Travel Song
(Special Category)
Highway 17 Blues
Jim Fowler
When I lived in California, just about the only way for me to get to a major airport close to my home in Santa Cruz was by driving over the mountains on California State Highway 17. So although Fowler sings about commuting, to me his tune reminds me of out-of-town travel.
Related Err Travel columns
Famous travel quotations -- Words of the road remembered
Toons terrify tots -- Cartoons may return serenity to travel
Err-phemisms -- Interpreting airline safety briefings
Flying on my terms -- Air travel glossary
Any and all contents of Err Travel news stories are copyrighted by Applied Psychology (© 2011 Applied Psychology) which is solely responsible for its production and publication. These contents may not be reprinted or retransmitted in whole or in part without express written consent. If you use any of my stuff without asking first, I may sue your ass. I'll certainly be pissed off.