Going West

About the song:

In the summer of 1980, my first band became the hottest thing in Richmond, Virginia. This quick success fueled our ambitions and, after less than a year together, we decided to move to New York or Los Angeles. New York was the logical choice until we met a charming Englishman who claimed to be "very well-connected" in LA.

Los Angeles was a complete disaster. A squalid one-room apartment, few gigs, stolen equipment, rats, roaches, and mounting hostility between us. After ten months we moved back to Richmond and broke up.

Many years later I finally got a song out of this, but not about disaster—about being young, a little dumb, and bound for glory.

– Ira Marlowe

Lyrics

Peter bought the van
And we drove it off the lot
Mr. Sincerity in a moment of charity said
"How much have you got?"
It was a 1963
and the paint was kinda gone
But the seats rolled back and the radio worked
and the damned thing seemed to run
And it was time.
Jimi climbed aboard
And we loaded up the gear
Japtone drums and threadbare amps
That were just oud enough to hear
It was three against the world
As we left that one-horse town
To lock our horns with the City of Angels
And nothing could slow us down

Rolling through the south, Nashville, TN
A room for one and then came the fun
Of sneaking in all three
And in Warner, OK, we put our stetsons on
And we stood out on a corner of Winslow, AZ
And acted out that song

Peter bought the van
And we drove it off the lot
Mr. Sincerity in a moment of charity said
"How much have you got..?"
You'll never be quite so free
or quite so strong
you'll never be quite to brave
or quite so young

Editor: Elizabeth Stix
Poetry Editor: Miriam Pirone

• elizabethstix@gmail.com