Slicing like a laser
Trailing like a blazer
Slashing like a razor
through the refinery stench
The radio fast talker
The post-midnight stalker
I’m like Luke Skywalker
in the Death Star Trench
Turnpike divides ahead
Braced for what lies ahead
Trooper cruiser flies ahead
on a lean mean streak
She was shooting like a blaster
In the left lane but I passed her
I just got to go faster
I’m a speed speed freak.
Stop take ticket
Admission to the thicket
She was a speeding ticket
on the freeway of love
Lane change psychopathic
Stop and go spastic
Dual dual traffic
What was she thinking of?
From thirteen to eleven
From 18E to seven
It’s road rage armageddon
in the afternoon rush
Jackknifing and crashing
Red signs flashing
Drivers’ teeth gnashing
no love from this crush.
Where are we going
There is no way of knowing
Are we speeding or slowing
or just standing still?
Are we starting or ending
Living or pretending
Retracting or extending
Is it up or down hill?
Well, everybody’s got their somewhere to go
I know I haven’t found mine
Everybody’s going a hundred different places
I’m looking for Destination 99.
Everybody’s going somewhere
Everybody’s crossing a line
Everyone’s looking for their hundredth destination
I’m looking for Destination 99.
Don’t stop for a picture
You’ll get caught in the stricture
The law will be victor
and you’ll be the one to lose
And if you don’t find this amusing
Then get your clunker cruising
Got to keep on moving
or else you’ll end up with the blues
And hey I’m sick of riding
With you jawing and jiving
Let me take over driving
and I’ll make the first strike
And as we dive under the skyway
I’ll say we’re going my way
This ain’t just any old highway
this is the blues turnpike.
Where are we going
What kind of load are we towing
Which way’s the traffic flowing
Is it going anywhere?
Are we just lost and messed up
Where’s the nearest rest stop
Where are we gonna end up
How will we know we’re there?
Well, everybody’s got their somewhere to go
I know I haven’t reached mine
Everybody’s going a hundred different places
I’m going to Destination 99.
Everybody has to go somewhere
When they’re tired of toeing the line
Everyone’s looking for their hundredth destination
I’m looking for Destination 99.
©2024 The Hesh Inc.
The New Jersey Turnpike looms large in my consciousness, as it does to almost anyone who grew up in the Middle Atlantic region of the USA and especially in the state of NJ. Since the time I was born, I was traveling this monster of a road when going just about anywhere west and south out of the New York area, and I still do. I always get a sense of the musicality of this road whenever I'm on it; each passing feature, each ramp, curve, rest area, water tower, refinery, and exit has its own unique musical tone. I tried capturing this sense when I took courses in Electronic Music at Brookdale College during the 1990s; I had a great time composing this piece, "Turnpike Blues," as my honors project.
The first lyric ideas, some of which populate the first and second verses, came to me during my first stint as a limousine driver during the year and a half prior to attending Brookdale. Later on, when I shared my musical idea with my friend and co-worker Angela C'bro, she mentioned to me that she also had an idea for a song about driving on the New Jersey highways, which she titled "Destination 99." I told her I loved the idea, and that I would include it in my song about the Turnpike, if she didn't mind. These reached their fruition during my second stint as a limo driver in 2002-2003, when I wrote the pre-choruses ("Where are we going") and the choruses ("Well, everybody’s got their somewhere to go"). So the credit for those must go to her as well.
I will probably record this as a combination of electronic and rock-band arrangements when I finally finish my Soul In Exile magnum opus, of which this constitutes the "opening salvo" of the next installment, hopefully before too long.
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