by Elaine Ernst Schneider
"Red light, green light, 'round the town, I found a penny on the ground, met a friend I never knowed, walkin' "
Strolling through the city. Just walking. Watching the lights turn red. Singing a song to the rhythm of the passers by. Daytime. Nighttime. "All around the block, all around the town Tell me what you see." It's typical Peter, Paul and Mary with their don't-miss-out-on-life philosophy. The lyrics of their song "Rocky Road" remind the listener to step out and catch the sights of town.
What? Leave the car at home? Watch the subway go by and don't get on? And just what do you see when mechanical transportation is abandoned for an on-foot promenade?
Seeing is Believing
Mack David and Jerry Livingston penned the title song for the Warner Brothers TV series, "77 Sunset Strip." The lyrics take us down the street by that name where "the most exciting people pass you by, including a private eye." While seeing the Los Angeles based private eye is the crux of the song (and the series,) we are assured to meet "the high-brow and the hipster, the starlet and the phony tipster" as well.Of course, not every town can offer Sunset Strip. Still, there is that unexplainable draw of the big city. Dean Martin sang about "Houston," where he was "just walking in the rain, goin' back to Houston." I know Houston. It's worth a walk in the rain to get there. And, of course, there's New York. Lawler and Blake's lyrics lead us to the "east side, west side, (and) all around the town." The casual stroller meets excitement as the day turns into night and he trips "the light fantastic" on "The Sidewalks of New York." Then it just gets better down on "Forty Second Street" where the city viator meets up with "all the gang" in "Give My Regards to Broadway." "Miami,"> by Bob Seger, reminds the excursionist to look upward at "the buildings so high (that) they seem to touch the sky." And then, there's Hollywood. David Wolinski and Andre Fischer describe "painted faces, sunburnt skin, fixed expressions, smiles worn thin, caught in the blink of neon of Hollywood" in their song "Hollywood" named for the city. Where else would you find sunburn and neon?
Fantasy Streets
Every city has them--those beaten tracks that charm the lover, beckon the lonely, and make great song lyrics. The street names don't matter, just the picture they create in the minds of those who imagine that they exist. In their song, "Anybody Goin' to San Antone," Kirby and Martin place a lonely wanderer "walkin' down Sixty Six sleeping under a table," heart broken because the woman in his life had done him "wrong." Likewise, Elvis himself took "a walk down Lonely Street to Heartbreak Hotel."Then there are the "streets" that can be anywhere. David Bowie and Mick Jagger swear there is "Dancing in the Streets" in "Philadelphia, Baltimore DC and way down to LA." They say "all we need is music." They're singing my song.
John Mellencamp knew one of those streets to walk for a "Wild Night." His lyrics capture the excitement of the evening even before the journeyer leaves home. "As you brush your shoes, you stand before your mirror and you comb your hair, grab your coat and hat; and you walk the streets and everything looks so complete and the wind catches your feet and sets you flying."
Slaughter must have been the same places as Bowie, Jagger, and Mellencamp. In Slaughter's "Up All Night," the trek is made "in the streets under the city lights (with) the neon lights calling." The moonlight and the stars peek through the city lights to create romance as our wanderer is "havin' the time of (his) life." The city can do that to a person, you know. It can just up and grab a life, step up the stroller's gait to a dance, then set the unsuspecting rover back down on the sidewalk to walk home with his memories. In its song, "I Am the City," ABBA reveals the power the city can hold over those who walk its streets:
"I'm the street you walk, the language you talk.
I am the city.
The skyline is me and the energy.
The famous hotels and the cocktail bars
The parks and the squares that you see,
All the sounds that you hear,
And the air that you're breathing is me.
Yes, I am the city you let me be."
A Slower Pace
It's not always the neon lights or the frenzied pace of night dancing that calls the wayfarer to the streets. Sometimes there's just a quiet sense of activity that entices the city driver to turn pedestrian and embark on a journey where to enjoy the full gamut of urban experiences requires a more leisurely stride. David Loggins understood Boston in the springtime, where "you can sell your paintings on the sidewalk." The lyrics' alluring approach in "Please Come to Boston" is the equivalent to stopping and smelling the roses, it would seem. Walk too quickly and you'll miss those paintings.
Or what about "the corner of Fourth and Grand"? You don't want to hurry by the "Chattanooga Shoe-Shine Boy!" According to songwriter Red Foley, it's quite an event. "People gather round and they clap their hands he pops the boogie woogie rag you ought to see him fan the air."
The key to enjoying the city stroll is to forget the time and s-l-o-w down! Take some advice from Chicago in their song "Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is." The lyrics go like this: "Does anybody really know what time it is? I don't. Does anybody really care?" In other word, if you're going to stop and smell the flowers, you can't keep looking at your watch.
But perhaps you're not one for walking single. Tom Jones remembers walking while watching "the leaves falling to the ground walking up and down the streets of (his) hometown." The memories are of long walks with one he loved, and he confesses, "Can't Stop Loving You." Then there's the Naked Eyes piece, "Always Something There to Remind Me." A reminiscent trekker walks "along the city streets (he) used to walk and every step reminds (him) of how it used to be."
Bobby Vee, Gerry Goffin, and Carole King combined their talents to produce the hit "Walking' With My Angel" in 1962. The lyrics describe a romantic jaunt about town where a proud fellow is "walking with (his) angel." In a somewhat philosophical and peripatetic mood, the singer goes on to claim that "every guy is a-wishin' he were me when we're stollin' hand in hand, I'm as happy as can be."
Saunter or Shuffle...Doesn't Matter
Whether it's the homegrown ambience of smaller town streets or the neon lights of the big city, there's nothing like an urban ramble. Forget those songs about trees by river embankments and solitary mountain hikes! There are treasures to be found in the city. Petula Clark hit it dead on target with Tom Hatch's "Downtown" lyrics when she beckoned those who were lonely to "forget all (their) troubles and forget all (their) cares and go downtown (where) things'll be great." Perhaps the lyrics to "Rocky Road" sum it up the best: "I found a penny on the ground, met a friend I never knowed, walkin'. "Maybe I'll try it. After all, what beats a penny for good luck and a new friend to boot?
Elaine Ernst Schneider is a freelance writer and music teacher. She has been writing since high school and has published articles, songs, and children's work. Presently, Elaine is a curriculum author for Group Publishing and maintains the Lesson Tutor website.
