John's Universe: Famous People I Have Pissed Off or Insulted- Part 2- Bob Seger

"Turn the Page"

On a long and lonesome highway east of Omaha
You can listen to the engine moanin' out his one note song
You can think about the woman
Or the girl you knew the night before
But your thoughts will soon be wandering
The way they always do
When you're ridin' sixteen hours
And there's nothin' much to do
And you don't feel much like ridin',
You just wish the trip was through

Here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up on the stage
Here I go
Playin' the star again
There I go
Turn the page

Well you walk into a restaurant,
Strung out from the road
And you feel the eyes upon you
As you're shakin' off the cold
You pretend it doesn't bother you
But you just want to explode
Most times you can't hear 'em talk,
Other times you can
All the same old cliches,
"Is that a woman or a man?"
And you always seem outnumbered,
You don't dare make a stand

Here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up on the stage
Here I go
Playin' the star again
There I go
Turn the page

Out there in the spotlight
You’re a million miles away
Every ounce of energy
You try to give away
As the sweat pours out your body
Like the music that you play
Later in the evening
As you lie awake in bed
With the echoes from the amplifiers
Ringin' in your head
You smoke the day's last cigarette,
Rememberin' what she said

Here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up on the stage
Here I go
Playin' the star again
There I go
Turn the page

Here I am

On the road again
There I am
Up on the stage
Here I go
Playin' the star again
There I go
There I go

It's a great song by Bob Seger, and one of my favorites. And why not? I think I inspired part of it. How did I do that? By pissing off Bob Seger, of course.

Let me explain. After my mother divorced my father, my Dad would take us on vacation during the summer. It would take us 3 1/2 days to drive across country from New Jersey to Colorado. There were two routes to get there: the northern route, which was by I-80 through Iowa and Nebraska, and the southern route, by I-70 through Missouri and Kansas. It was a lot of driving, but my Dad loved to get on the road and drive.

After we made it to Colorado Springs, we would spend a couple weeks with Aunt Barbara, Uncle Jim, Cousin Rob, and our grandmother. Aunt Barbara and Uncle Jim's place was our base of operations, and we would take side trips to different places, like the Grand Canyon, the Black Hills of South Dakota, or other places of interest. Then we would do the whole trip in reverse, back to New Jersey. We would eat at various places along the highway, and stay at various motels.

On a long and lonesome highway East of Omaha

On one of our trips, when I was about eleven, we were taking the northern route. We stopped to eat at a roadside diner somewhere east of Omaha.

Well you walk into a restaurant,
Strung out from the road
And you feel the eyes upon you
As you're shakin' off the cold
You pretend it doesn't bother you
But you just want to explode

These guys walked in. Or they might have been guys. They had really long hair, down past the middle of their backs. They sat down to eat at the booth next to us.

Most times you can't hear 'em talk,
Other times you can
All the same old cliches,
"Is that a woman or a man?"
And you always seem outnumbered,
You don't dare make a stand

The one with the longest hair was clean shaven. I didn’t know if it was an ugly looking girl or a guy, so I said:
"Is that a woman or a man?"

The person heard me. It was a guy. You could tell as soon as he opened his mouth, because he had a gravelly voice. He was pissed off, and said something, to his friends. One of the guys with him, said, “Let it go, Bob. It’s not worth it. There’s too many of them here”

Bob started talking about how he was tired of the same old cliches, and the same things happening over and over. He was pissed off, but didn’t get loud or obnoxious about it, and didn’t cause a scene. To his credit, he stayed pretty calm and controlled.

We ate our lunch, and they ate theirs. From their conversation I could tell that they were on tour around the Midwest. Bob talked about the different clubs they could play on the road, the advantages of each, and how much each place paid. The money sounded good, but the life of a musician sounded tough. It wasn’t a glamorous life, chasing fame and fortune like that. Not from the way that Bob talked.

Bob, of course, was Bob Seger.

A few years later, he hit it big with his album, “Night Moves”. I bought “Night Moves”, played the album over and over, and became a fan. Bob Seger was no one hit wonder. He had paid his dues on the road, and continued to produce hits. His song “Old Time Rock and Roll,” was featured in the movie, “Risky Business”. There were more hits and great songs after that. Today, Bob Seger is still going strong at age 60. He is back on the road, and is getting good reviews.

Of all the great songs Bob Seger has written, it is “Turn the Page” that affects me the most. I can identify with the feelings of loneliness and isolation he sings about. The first time I heard the song on the radio, I immediately remembered that day in the diner east of Omaha. That memory gives the song even more resonance for me.

Over the years, “Turn the Page” It has become a classic. It has been covered by Metallica, and other bands. Some consider it the best song about a rock n’ rollers life on the road that has ever been written.

All because I opened my mouth and pissed off Bob Seger.