Everything about Route 66 Song totally explained
"
(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66", often rendered simply as "
Route 66", is a
popular song and
rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by
American songwriter
Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by
Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including
Chuck Berry in 1961 and
The Rolling Stones in 1964. The song's lyrics follow the path of the
U.S. Route 66 highway, which used to run a large distance across the US, going from
Chicago,
Illinois to
Los Angeles,
California. The title was suggested to Troup by his first wife, Cynthia.
Composition and lyrics
Troup conceived the idea for the song while driving west from
Pennsylvania to
Los Angeles, California, and the lyrics — which include references to the
U.S. highway of the title and many of the cities it passes through — celebrate the romance and freedom of
automobile travel. In an interview he once said the tune for the song, as well as the lyric "Get your kicks on Route 66" came to him easily, but the remainder of the lyrics eluded him. More in frustration than anything else he simply filled up the song with the names of towns and cities on the highway.
The lyrics read as a mini-travelogue about the major stops along the route, listing several cities and towns that Route 66 passes through. Specifically mentioned, in order, are
St. Louis, Missouri;
Joplin, Missouri;
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma;
Amarillo, Texas;
Gallup, New Mexico;
Flagstaff, Arizona;
Winona, Arizona;
Kingman, Arizona;
Barstow, California; and
San Bernardino, California. Winona is the only town out of sequence in the list. It was a very small settlement east of Flagstaff, and might indeed have been forgotten if not for the song's lyric, "Don't forget Winona", written to rhyme with "Flagstaff, Arizona."
Recording history
"Route 66" was first recorded in 1946 by
Nat King Cole, whose rendition became a hit on both the U.S. R&B and pop
record charts. The version recorded by
Perry Como in 1959 is more complete, including the seldom-heard second verse and also the introductory verse.
The song has become a
pop standard and has since been
covered by numerous other vocal and instrumental artists, including:
Re-worked version
Essex-born
English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg also recorded an "anglicised" version of the song called "
A13 (Trunk Road to the Sea)" for a
John Peel session. In the song — strummed and sung to the same tune as the original — the landmark cities are replaced with English ones along the route of the A13, with Bragg inviting listeners to "Go motoring, on the A-thirteen".
Appearances in other media
The producers of television show
Route 66 commissioned a new theme song because they wanted to avoid making royalty payments for Troup's song.
The 2006
Disney/
Pixar film
Cars portrays the legendary road, Route 66 as a spectacle of the United States. In doing so, the
film's soundtrack includes the popular
Chuck Berry version and the
Grammy nominated "update version" by modern blues rock artist
John Mayer.
The 2006 film
RV features the song, sung by the cast (Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, Joanna 'JoJo' Levesque, Josh Hutcherson, Jeff Daniels, Kristin Chenoweth, Hunter Parrish, Chloe Sonnenfeld, Alex Ferris) as the closing credits are run.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Route 66 Song'.
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