#thefridaydozen
Fridays are for leaving, for taking one last look at that desk and blowing town. Especially in the springtime, when the weather turns nice. After all, isn’t the independent spirit what us freelancers are all about?
I used to teach a high-school English course called, “The Great American Road Trip.” Seriously. It was a spring trimester elective on great books like Jack Kerouac’s On The Road and John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley and was an absolute blast to teach. We covered books, short stories, movies, and music – all on the themes of leaving, false starts, and the value of the journey.
One of the projects the students did for the class was create and annotate a road trip play list. They had to select a full CD worth of songs and explain how each song fit into the themes of the course. In the spirit of Fridays, springtime, and that course, I humbly submit my Friday Digaboom Dozen.
Man, was it hard to keep it to 12. Road trip songs abound, inspired by movies, books, and just the call of open road and open skies. Songs like Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild,” John Mayer’s cover of “Good Love is on the Way,” Eve 6’s “Open Road Song,” and John Hiatt’s “Memphis in the Meantime” all get your motor running…so to speak.
There are plenty of reasons to hit the road and many of the best road trip songs (The Amity Front’s “Highway Bound,” The Avett Brothers’ “I and Love and You”) dive into the most common one: a broken heart. Moe just want wants to get away in “Nebraska.”
Another common reason to get out on the road is simply the lure of the destination. First Aid Kit perhaps says it best, “I don’t want to wait anymore. I’m tired of looking for answers/Take me to some place where there’s music and there’s laughter.” One place might be a “Holiday in Spain” by the Counting Crows or “Down in the Valley” by the Head and the Heart.
Okay, I know I left a lot of favorites off this list: “Born to Run,” “Lawyers, Guns, and Money,” “Holiday Road” to name a few. But I only had a dozen spots. What song do you wish was on the list?
Whatever your reason to get out this weekend and find some open highway, do it. Who knows, maybe that desk will have to survive without you for a while. Just send us a postcard.
As always, if you have a suggestion for a future playlist let us know. We absolutely want to feature playlists from folks in the Digaboom Community.
Feel free to follow us on Spotify to see what we are listening to around the office.
Have a great and productive Friday!
Care to join the discussion and let us know what you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below:
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Image: Ryan McGuire and Gratisography
