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Hitchhiking

from APRIL SONG by Ed Askew

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about

near as i can remember; HITCHHIKING was written before 1984, but after 1975, sometime after i had returned from the West Coast. but since i lived in at least 3, maybe 4, different places during that period , i can not recall exactly what i was doing. i know i was in the New Haven area, and i had begun to focus on my painting, and toward the end of the 70s i was playing less in public (i had been putting on shows throughout the 1970s), and showing my painting more often, in New York and New Haven. when i wrote HITCHHIKING i was thinking of a time back two or three years, maybe……
…… i was living with friends in a large house in Hamden CT, just up the street from the Jr Highschool. the people in the house varied in age from teen age to 20 something ,to me in my early 30s. i had lived there for a few years, but decided to leave for personal reasons..we all got along very well.
i had a show scheduled in Mystic CT, just up the Connecticut Coast, at a bar where my friend Dean booked the music.
at that time i knew people around the country who i could visit. so i made my plan, and let people know that i might be showing up.
i said my goodbyes and one afternoon we put my harpsichord in the van, and a few of us drove to Mystic, where i did the show.
now, to make a long story short; my friends returned to New haven with the harpsichord, and without me. and i got on the road the next morning (tiple in hand) and headed north.
other than that, the song tells you pretty much what happened after that..though not everything.

lyrics

I HIT THE ROAD AND HEADED FOR THE SETTING SUN.
THE LIGHTS ON THE PAVEMENT WERE GOLD.
THE LONG BLACK HIGHWAY WAS AN ARROW TO THE STARS.
CARS PASSED BY.
AND THAN I GOT A RIDE.

THE CARS WERE GOING FAST INTO THE NIGHT.
THE FALLING RAIN WAS SHINNING ON THE ROAD.
WE DROVE FROM DARKNESS, INTO THE BRIGHT
MORNING SUN,
WHERE THE GREAT WATERS FALL, AT BUFFALO.

I GOT A RIDE OUT OF CHICAGO.
WE PASSED THROUGH CITIES AND SMALL TOWNS.
THE TRUCK THAT PICKED ME UP, HEADED SOUTH.
AND THE MISSISSIPPI FLOWED
LIKE A GREAT WIDE ROAD
OF GOLD AND MUD.

I WENT TO AUSTIN WHERE I STAYED
WITH SOME GOOD PEOPLE IN THERE HOME.
AND PETER TOOK ME OUT, TO THE PLACE
WHERE THE BLUE ROCKS ROSE
ON THE SILVER MIRROR OF A LAKE.

WHEN I LEFT AUSTIN FOR THE COAST,
I GOT A RIDE WITH RICHARD WHITE.
HE PLAYED A FRAIL GUITAR, AND I
SANG A HOPEFUL NOTE.
WITH THE BLUE SKY PLAYING BY, THE FREEWAY.

I GOT A JOB IN SAN FRANCISCO.
WASHING THE POTS IN A RESTAURANT .
AND AFTER WORK I'D GO, TO THE TOP
OF A HILL,
WITH THE WHITE CITY SHINNING, IN THE DUSK.

I HIT THE ROAD AND HEADED FOR THE SETTING SUN.
THE LIGHTS ON THE PAVEMENT WERE GOLD.
THE LONG BLACK HIGHWAY WAS AN ARROW TO THE STARS.
CARS PASSED BY.
AND THAN I GOT A RIDE.

credits

from APRIL SONG, released January 1, 2011

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Ed Askew New York

The singer-songwriter / painter moved to New York for a few months in 1967 where he met Bernard Stollman of ESP-Disk, who offered him a contract. Between 1968 and 1986, Ed lived, mostly, in New Haven; doing occasional shows with his band, and later doing solo shows there. Around 1987, Ed moved to New York City, where he continues to write and record songs, and occasionally perform. ... more

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