Benny Jay: Roll Me Away

Driving south on Clark Street, leaving Evanston and heading into the city, when Bob Seger comes on the radio.

Roll Me Away….

Aw, yeah, gotta crank this one up.

To the drivers in the passing cars, I may look like some old coot in a grimy old Ford, but inside my ride it’s 1980-something and I’m in my prime.

This is the song where Seger gets tired of living in Michigan and hops on his motorcycle and heads west. Doesn’t even pack. Well, maybe a duffel bag or something. All the obligations of middle-class America be damned. Forget the house, the car, the kids. Just hop that Harley and ride….

Twelve hours later he picks up a chick he meets in a bar where’s he’s stopped for a brew. She has no name. Who needs names? Probably didn’t even ask her for it — cool guys don’t need names. She hops on the back of his big two seater and sets off with him. Probably left a husband and two kids behind her. That’s how it goes when chicks fall under the spell.

They wind up on a high road deep in the mountains — it’s all cold and everything. She has second thoughts — the wimp. Says she misses her home. So my man Seger just heads out on his own.

Just like me, as I cross Devon in my gray Taurus.

At the end of the song, Seger’s all alone at the top of a mountain staring out at the Great Divide. He could go east he could west, it’s all up to him to decide.  Then he sees this hawk — this young hawk — and he’s has a moment of inspiration. He’s just gonna fly which ever way he wants. Like that hawk. And me. I might just drive this Taurus all the way to Memphis. Go visit Graceland.  If that’s where the road leads me.

Man, I love this song. Can’t hear it enough. Every time I hear it I want to hear it again.

Funny thing is women don’t like Roll Me Away. Well, at least my wife. And I think she speaks for thousands of women everywhere.

First time I heard it with my wife, I said — “isn’t that a great song?”

And she said: “What about the girl?”

And I said: “What girl?”

“The girl he picked up at the bar and left on the mountain top….”

“What about her?”

“Well, he just left her….”

“So….”

“So how’s she gonna get home?”

“How’s that Seger’s problem? It’s not like prom night — where he promises to pick her up and drop her off….”

“So, she’s just supposed to stay up on that mountain forever?”

“I dunno — she probably hitched a ride with a truck driver or something….”

“Oh, so she has to depend on another man….”

“Maybe it was a woman truck driver — ever think of that? Look she should have thought about that when she hopped onto Seger’s Harley. If  you don’t wanna to be a mama hawk don’t fly with the man hawks….”

“Huh?”

“Forget it….”

Yeah, well, anyway. She probably won that argument. But I still love the song. Matter of fact, I got it cranked so high the car’s shaking. I’m almost sad when it ends.

On comes James Taylor. Fire and Rain. Boring….

I’m not really much of a James Taylor fan. I mean, he’s okay. Women, on the other hand, they love James Taylor. It’s those big brown sensitive eyes.  He was probably a player back in the day. The guy was married to Carly Simon and then he dumped her. Think about that — he dumped Carly Simon.  When I was 17, I had a crush on Carly Simon as big as the Great Divide. And he dumped her. How the hell can you dump Carly  Simon?

For all I know, he took to the top of a mountain and left her at a truck stop. Just like Seger.

The thing is — my wife’s not mad at James Taylor. That’s cause of those eyes. A guy can get away with almost anything if he has sensitive eyes.

No one said life was fair….