Trailers for sale or rent

rooms to let, fifty cents.

No phone, no pool, no pets.

I aint got no cigarettes.

Ah, but, two hours of pushin’ broom

buys an eight by twelve four-bit room.

I’m a man of means by no means

King of the road

Third boxcar, midnight train

destination Bangor, Maine.

Old, worn-out suit and shoes.

I don’t pay no union dues.

I smoke old stogies I have found.

Short, but not too big around.

I’m a man of means by no means

King of the Road

I know every engineer on every train

All of their children, and all of their names

And every handout in every town

Every lock that aint locked when, no one’s around.

I sing, Trailers for sale or rent

Rooms to let fifty cents,

No phone, no pool, no pets

I aint got no cigarettes.

Ah, but, two hours of pushing broom

Buys an eight by twelve four bit-room

I’m a man of means by no means

King of the Road!

Trailers for sale or rent

Rooms to let, fifty cents

No phone, no pool, no pets

I aint got no cigarettes

Ah, but, two hours of pushin’ broom buys…

You might recall I have acknowledged that The Beatles were my favorite group when I was young. This song does not, in any way, resemble anything released by The Beatles. True!

To those of you who are familiar with the song, I hope you agree that most of the songs Roger Miller released bring a smile to your face. They do bring a smile to mine!

So let’s get to analytics, as I promised.

As a child of 10 or 11, I was drawn to songs that told a story. I felt this one did.

The story, by my interpretation, chronicled an entrepreneur who lacked capitol. I came up with that analysis after my dad explained what “means by no-means” meant.

So, I was impressed with the fact that an older person (Everyone seemed to be older than me back in 1965- just as everyone seems to be younger than me in present day) had written a song about a hobo who rented out boxcars. I liked the idea that he would sweep them out and charge “fifty cents” for something he had no legal right to allow people in. – Back in the day we heard a lot about the “bulls” hired by the railroads to keep hobos out of the boxcars. We heard about them beating “freeloaders” and throwing them out of moving trains and worse. The first time I heard this song I thought of the “bulls” and was curious what Mr. Miller would do to keep his “tenants” safe.

I liked the fact that while my older brothers were spending half of their paychecks, from the part-time jobs they held on cigarettes (Around fifty cents a pack in the 60’s) Roger Miller was smoking, “Old stogies I have found..” Since that time, I can’t avoid thinking about that line any time I see a crushed-out cigar butt on the ground.

I also found it amusing that Roger Miller was writing songs about “Hobos,” “Roller skating in a buffalo herd” and “England (He pronounced it EEEN-GA-LUND) swinging like a pendulum do (Which isn’t swinging at all) while The Stones were demanding SATISFACTION, Frank Sinatra was singing of STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT, and The Beatles were hoping to HOLD YOUR (Some unknown girl’s) HAND.

I felt Miller was a nice “comic relief” from the love songs, which, as a preteen, I had limited interest in.

Thanks for reading. Please comment on songs you enjoyed, or whatever you liked or disliked about this post.

Phil

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The post AN EXAMINATION OF AN OLD SONG appeared first on A Boomer's Thoughts.