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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Since 1996 |
Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Song: Hit the Road Jack Artist: Ray Charles Reviewed by psychologist, Dr. Bruce L. Thiessen, aka Dr. BLT Phantom Tollbooth readers: To get a flavor of the song Ray Charles planted permanently in our souls, listen to and download (for free) this cover version by yours truly: Hit the Road, Jack
The lyrics are exceedingly simple. The story is simple, and its what we’re not told that makes the story so interesting. The missing pieces jump start the imagination with hypotheses. (Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more.)Initially, the lyrics are quoting those very words that sting the soul of the man we end up being sympathetic towards. Perhaps he has cheated on the woman one too many times. Perhaps he has been branded a bum for his pervasive indolence. Perhaps there are a confluence of factors that led the woman in the story to finally become fed up. In the verse that follows the chorus, we find that the abandoned party “ain’t too proud to beg.” old Woman, old woman, don't treat me so mean,The inflections in the voice of Ray Charles, and the passion with which he engages in the song, serves to beg the listener to take his side. And we do, whether male or female, without hesitation. (Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more.)The repetition of the chorus accents the determination, and unyielding insistence on the part of the woman who is giving him the pink slip. The abandonee is every bit as insistent on getting the woman he has come to depend on to change her mind Now baby, listen baby, don't ya treat me this-a wayStill, there is no sign of a change of heart in the woman we are beginning to resent for her cold-hearted, intractable stance: (Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more, no more, no more, no more.)As the song continues, the woman appears unmoved, even disgusted with his vehement pleas. The back and forth begging and rejecting replies continue until it appears the abandonee does just as he was told from the beginning. He hits the road, and I don’t think he’ll be coming back no more. As for Ray Charles...well, though he recently hit the road to heaven, he will keep coming back with all of those timeless, passionately delivered genre-busting ballads that we know and love him for. Phantom Tollbooth visitors: Help yourself to this free tribute to the original artist who made this song a timeless classic. Mr. Charles
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