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Nashville Tow-truck Blues
(Ray Miatke)
This is what Bill Monroe called a “true life song” We had just come from visiting Bill’s house on Jerusalem Ridge and were riding high on bluegrass history vibes. Nashville brought us down to earth. We took our ’85 VW bus into that spider web of roads, eventually found Broadway, and parked in a place that was legitimate where we come from. We made about 60 bucks busking on the street, only to find that our van had been towed and impounded somewhere in the hinterlands of Nashville and was being held for ransom. The tow-truck driver (and price negotiator) told me with a grin, “There’s no free parking in Nashville.”
Heading’ into Nashville on 65 South
Hardly let the words slip from my mouth
When a fork in the road says 24 East, but now we’re headed west to Memphis
I need the parkway, but I don’t know the name
All of these roads look the same
So round and round and round we go
Want to go downtown but I don’t know, which road will take me there
I’m traveling on a wing and a prayer
The man on the corner says all roads lead to Nashville, Tennessee
You take the Briley Parkway to the Murfreesboro Road
Around to Thompson Lane and Woodmont Boulevard
Whitebridge Road will take you for a hike back to Briley Parkway and the Hyde’s Ferry Pike
155 will take you back, at least to 24 South, but now we’re heading east
Back in the old days they took a boat, down the Cumberland River was a nice little float
Took you right on into downtown where all of life’s pleasures could be found
Along came an engineer with a plan to put a spider web of roads on the land
Now you take the 21st Ave to the Hillsdale Pike to the mall at Green Hills and all that like
West End Road will take you back along past the Freewill Baptist and the Parthenon
Getting tired of driving but maybe today, we’ll get to Broadway and find a place to play
Well we finally got to the Busking Place, pulled out my guitar put a smile on my face
Played a few tunes for the people that were there; made a little change and got a lot of stares
Packed it all up and went back to where I parked
But the tow-truck had been there
Well we got a ride out to the barbed-wire yard where they towed the van, negotiated hard
Got the price down to $75; it hurt pretty bad but we’re still alive
Went out through the gate, took a left, then a right and we were lost in Nashville in the middle of the night
So round and round and round we go
Want to go downtown but I don’t know, which road will take me there
I’m traveling on a wing and a prayer
The man on the corner says all roads lead to Nashville!
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