We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Ragtop Car

from Songs of Wanderlust by The Ram

/

about

My eldest brother owned a ragtop Barracuda from the 1960s. It was the chariot that took us on so many roadtrips and concerts in the 1980s through the early 1990s. This was the era where I traded my Pennsylvania farm raised roots for a home base in New York State, and eventually NYC. If any song contains the secret to all other songs on this album, or contains the glue that binds all the songs together, it is this one.

"Some say that the love of WANDERLUST Is just another live that won’t amount to much A man born with rambling shoes, is just another man born to loose"

During his Rolling Thunder tour, there was a filmed interview where Dylan said “you don’t go out on the road to find yourself, you go out to create something or create yourself”. His words were a clear correction to the widely misunderstood novels of Kerouac, those uniquely American books were my generation’s (Generations X) biblical texts, travel was part of being an American.

Wanderlust brought me to live in America’s greatest city, and it’s what forced me to leave 6 years later. Time and time again, it’s given me life changing opportunity, while it has also gotten me into heaps of trouble. I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything else. Wanderlust, storytelling, sending news back to the family from the road, set the stage for all else to come.

lyrics

Some say that the love of the wanderlust
Is just a life that won't amount to much
A man born with rambling shoes
Is just another man born to loose
I want to set the record straight
Before I hit the road today

Got a ragtop car
Enough gas to take us far
Enough away
Because I plan to drive all day
When the evening comes
We'll be like loaded guns
Out in the night
Shooting stars out the sky, baby

When the blue sky's lost in a concrete maze
I get the feeling, I wanna get lost for days
Lace up my rambling shoes
Get a chance to beat the 3rd street blues
Race up the Taconic Parkway
Drive until the break of day

Got a ragtop car
Enough gas to take us far
Enough away
Because I plan to drive all day
When the evening comes
We'll be like loaded guns
Out in the night
Shooting stars out the sky, baby

I got myself a roadie in my hand
Talking a cool Pabst Blue Ribbon in a can
I'm not trying to be tough
Just priming up the motor of love
Gotta loosen up
Here come my baby just a strutting that stuff

She got a ragtop car
Enough gas to take us far
Enough away
Because I plan to drive all day
When the evening comes
We'll be like loaded guns
Out in the night
Shooting stars out the sky, baby

credits

from Songs of Wanderlust, released October 20, 2023

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

The Ram image

The Ram Carlsbad, California

The Ram is a traveling singer-songwriter based out of North County San Diego, CA. Part of traveling means we play with musicians from all walks of life and exposure to all sorts of different genres, styles, and instrumentation. It's the pure freedom a songwriter needs to pivot, working with a collective of musical talent as opposed to managing a working band in a specific genre or class of music. ... more

shows

contact / help

Contact The Ram

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like The Ram, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring interviews with LA music scene pillar Kamasi Washington, and new London-based duo Mrcy.

listen now