Anyone else out there just get in their car and drive with no particular destination in mind? The fall weather has been spectacular this year and the conditions are perfect for long drives. Four days past Halloween and there is still a lot of color on the trees. We’ve had gorgeous sunsets and very few cold, windy, or rainy days which is unusual here in WNY in the fall. I’ve always had a strong sense of wanderlust and currently I don’t really have anyone with whom to wander very far. So I just drive around mostly by myself, along the glacial ridge above the lake plane, marveling at the landscape. The brilliant flashy orange and deep red of the maple tree leaves, some bright yellow against the brilliant blue sky and steely gray lake Erie in the distance. It’s breathtaking.
I like driving alone because I can listen to whatever music I like, uninterrupted. And lately that would be The Cars, the perfect soundtrack for long drives. Of course it is. Ben and David being the “enGINE”, propelling both the music and me. I’ve just about worn out the first disc of The Cars Anthology. I’ve listened to it so many times. Thank God my car has a CD player. I will never be able to get rid of it just for this reason. I get in the car and instinctively hit the button. The intro guitar chords on Just What I Needed give me a thrill. Every. Single. Time. And the disc ends with Don’t Go To Pieces, one of the band’s best songs. It highlights Ben’s amazing vocals. Those are The Cars songs I like best, the ones on which Ben sings lead.
Sometimes I have to force myself to listen to other music. Before my my Cars epiphany my music of choice was the Grateful Dead so sometimes I listen to them. I also discovered some great compilations on Spotify; the 1979 playlist is pretty good for nostalgia, as are the tracks from a 1986-87. mix. But eventually I always go back to The Cars. I’ve written this before but I wish I had been more cognizant of them 40 plus years ago. I wish that I had seen them live. Many people have said they were not very exciting live but I don’t know about that. I’ve listened to and watched a lot of their live performances. Another CD that provides a fantastic listening while driving experience is The Cars Live at the El Mocambo. The band was on FIRE at this show! Ben talking to the audience, Elliot’s out of this world solo on Take What You Want. And the encore of Candy-O and You’re All I’ve Got Tonight; absolutely ROCKING! I highly recommend it for a long drive.
I also wish I had been less snobby about what at one time were termed “oldies” acts and had the sense to see Benjamin Orr somewhere and somehow. But back then I was sadly oblivious to him and The Cars.
Driving alone and listening to music is one of the greatest pleasures I have in my early old age, lol! I can be alone with my thoughts, feelings and music. I can daydream, plan, imagine, try to set intentions and to manifest. I get most of my ideas for writing when I’m driving alone. However I do sometimes wish I had a partner in wandering. I often really miss my mom when I feel like heading out. She always said she came from a long line of Irish gypsies and tinkers when she recollected Sunday drives she took with her family when she was a little girl. She’d also talk about driving from Erie, PA with my grandma before she was married to visit my uncle when he was in the Army hospital in the early 60s, or to visit my aunt at the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart convent in Baltimore. I think wandering was therapeutic for her. I know it is for me. Working through stress I guess.
On Sunday afternoons when I was growing up my family would take Sunday drives. My two young brothers and I in the back seat as we’d wander through the country, eventually stopping to get dinner or an ice cream cone. Later on when I was older, my mom and I would drive down through Pennsylvania, to Allegany State Park or to visit her sister the Sister when she lived in Franklin. We’d head out early in the morning and be gone until all hours, exploring every small town, gift shop, craft fair, coffee shop, you name it. I really miss those days. At some point I have to summon the courage to travel by myself. I’ve constrained myself to going solo no further than about two hours away. I’m gonna have to decide for myself that I can go where and when I want even if I go alone. I’m getting there. I have noticed lately that several women I’m friendly with on FB have started doing things like traveling and going to concerts by themselves. Good for them. Sometimes you just get tired of waiting for others. I’m tired of waiting for others. But I’d also be happy to have any free spirited soul join me.
So to steer this thread back around to The Cars, cuz of course I have to, I’ve read that Benjamin Orr liked to drive his black Corvette named Magic around Massachusetts country roads. And he’d drive through Vermont and New Hampshire and up into Quebec with Diane and Judith. And he would ride his motorcycle on trips with both of them and then Julie. I wonder what he was listening to as he drove? What inspired him on long drives? I’d love to know. And to take a drive with him anywhere he wanted to go.
The SFB 
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