Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)

"Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)" is a song made famous by the country music band Alabama. Written by Dave Loggins, the song was released in 1984 as the title track to the band's fifth album. It became the group's 12 straight No. 1 single on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart.

[edit] Story

"Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)" was Alabama's contribution to an honored tradition in country music: the tribute to the American truck driver. Here, the story is that of a man who drives an over-the-road semitrailer truck to support his wife and three children.

As the story begins, the man (referred to only as "Daddy") leaves for a several-day trip through the Midwest. When the children gather around their mother in sadness, she says all they need to do is remember the song their father had taught them ("Roll on highway, roll on along, roll on Daddy 'til you get back home, roll on family, roll on crew, roll on mama like I asked you to do"); those lyrics serve as the refrain of the song.

In the song's second verse, the man's wife (known here as "Mama") receives a late-night phone call from an unnamed source, informing her that the highway patrol had found a semitrailer truck jackknifed in a snowbank along an interstate highway in Illinois. Despite learning that the search for her husband had been called off due to the fierce blizzard, and that Daddy had not been found at any of the local houses or motels, Mama remains confident that Daddy will be found alive. The woman and her children are left to pray for Daddy's safety, and in sadness and anticipation of a long night of worrying, sing the refrain to the song to comfort them.

In the final verse, Mama and the children wait up all night long, thinking that the next phone call will bring the worst possible news. However, when the phone rings and Mama answers it, the voice on the other end is that of Daddy, apparently safe and sound. He asks if they had been singing that song during the search for him. As the song lyrics put it, "'The man upstairs' was listening when they asked them to bring Daddy home"; no indication is made as to the identity of "the man upstairs," but it can be easily inferred that "the man" is God.

[edit] Single and album edits

The album version of "Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler)" is approximately 40 seconds longer than the 7-inch single released for radio airplay and retail sale. The album version can be distinguished by sound effects of a semitrailer truck (both the engine starting and, at the song's end, traveling down the highway), citizens' band radio chatter and — toward the end of the song — an extra repetition of the refrain.

[edit] References

Morris, Edward, "Alabama," Contemporary Books Inc., Chicago, 1985 (ISBN 0809253062)
Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.
All Music Guide — Roll On by Alabama.

Preceded by "Elizabeth" by Statler Brothers	Billboard Hot Country Singles number one single by Alabama March 24, 1984	Succeeded by "Let's Stop Talkin' About It" by Janie Fricke