Trucking Music Review: ‘Convoy’
Welcome back again to the Trucking Music Review! In this series, I’m listening to truck-driving country music for the first time and seeing whether I like it or not.
As of now, I’ve had some favorable reviews of music I generally don’t like, so I’m excited to continue. This week, we’ll be reviewing the theme song for the movie “Convoy,” which was performed by William Dale Fries Jr., a.k.a. C.W. McCall.
The original song was a smash hit when it was released in 1975, as it peaked at number-one on the country and pop charts in the U.S. Additionally, it was ranked at 98 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s 100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time.
In fact, the song was so stupendously popular that it inspired a feature film in 1978, also titled Convoy.
As the theme song to a film in the late ’70s, I came in expecting a high-energy song that was likely to be pretty ridiculous. I’ll be honest, I’ve never watched the movie, nor do I have an inclination to whatsoever, but this song is hilarious.
One thing that I did not see coming at all was just how deep the performer’s voice was going to be. He’s not even singing either, he’s just rhythmically speaking.
His performance isn’t bad, but it’s also not particularly good either. It is hysterical though, and undoubtedly entertaining.
I really enjoyed listening to the start of the song, where the truckers are talking over the CB using as much trucker lingo as possible in a single sentence.
In addition, the start of the song was especially amusing to me. As a novice to the Convoy Cinematic Universe, hearing McCall say the words Rubber Duck in the context of this scene made no sense to me, but made me burst into laughter nonetheless.
I looked it up. It’s just the guy’s name. His name is Rubber Duck. And he’s about to pull the plug on your drain (that’s the following lyric).
The start of the song is just great, but the chorus doesn’t match the hilarity of it. It sounds a lot more dramatic and it doesn’t match the comedic and playful tone that the song starts with.
While still upbeat, it’s not very catchy and it’s kind of forgettable and unnecessary.
Nevertheless, the instrumentals do make up for some of the shortcomings of the chorus. The music really helps set the tone for the film as something that is fast-paced and adventurous.
Overall, this song might be the most hilarious of the bunch I’ve reviewed thus far. It’s entertaining, and the instrumentals and lyrics are extremely fun. I’m going to give this one a 7/10.
So what do you think about the song? Let us know in the comments or on social media!
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