I’ve been listening to C.W. McCall’s song Convoy a lot lately. Very weird song. Great, but in a sick “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” kind of way. But I just don’t get it. I’ve seen Smokey and the Bandit like five times, and I still don’t have a clue what much of this song means.
Let’s take a look at it. Complete lyrics are available for your convenience.
I know that “Rubber Duck”, “Pigpen” and “Sodbuster” are radio callsigns. I assume the Kenworth is Rubber Duck’s rig and it’s loaded with timber. Fine. But what’s a “cab over Pete”? Why does it have the “reefer on”? And unless one of the rigs is actually transporting pigs, what does “hauling hogs” mean?
Moving on down. “Smokey” is the cops, I know that. “Bear” appears to have the same meaning. Is there a difference? Why would the truckers “go a-huntin’ bear”, when it would be smarter to avoid the police?
This is where it gets crazy. The convoy is now under attack by the Illinois National Guard, bringing “armoured cars and tanks and jeeps”, not to mention helicopters. What have the truckers done anyway? Sped? Does that really warrant this kind of response?
I won’t mention the “eleven long-haired friends of Jesus”. Ooops, I did. I also don’t really want to know who the “suicide jockey” is, what kind of help the friends of Jesus can offer him, or why he needs help due to carrying dynamite. Or maybe I do.
Now, the convoy is approaching New Jersey and crashes the “gate” because Rubber Duck doesn’t have a dime with which to pay the toll. Happy end.
Yep, it’s official, I don’t get this song. Any Doper truckers care to help me out?
Cab over Pete with the Reefer on sounds like a Peterbilt Cabover Truck pulling a refrigerated trailer. I think the Jimmy is a GMC pulling a trailer that actually is full of hogs. Smokey, Bear, and Smokey the Bear were interchangable for police. I remember County Mounty for Sherriff cars, and it seems like there was something else for State Troopers that escapes me. A Suicide Jockey was a trucker with a very hazardous load, like explosives. And the VW van full of peace/love/friends of Jesus hippies could pray for his safety.
As for what they did to warrant the National Guard involvement: ???
I haven’t heard this song in over 25 years… I haven’t missed it either. But let’s see if I can answer a few of your questions.
A “Bear” (wasn’t the specific line “a bear in the air”?) is indeed a cop – namely a state trooper, because of the “smokey bear” hats they wore. A bear in the air is tracking the highway in a helicopter or airplane.
A “cab over Pete” refers to a specific model of Peterbilt truck where the cab rides over the engine, instead of behind it. I believe “reefer” was a refrigeration unit.
“Hauling hogs” was indeed transporting pigs. Besides, it rhymes with logs.
As I recall, the convoy, which formed by chance, soon took on a life of its own, accumulating more trucks (“rigs”) and the occasional other vehicle (a chartreuse microbus - or Volkswagon van - carrying 11 religious proselytizers), accelerating to greater speeds, and eventually drawing the attention of and pursuit by a number of law enforcement organizations.
At that point, the collective mentality of the Convoy chose to challenge the bears and storm through their blockade (and a few toll booths) in New Jersey.
The ultimate mass hysteria of the Convoy participants was evident in that one of them ostensibly had a destination (a “20”) of Omaha, which was nowhere near Shi town (Chicago), much less New Jersey.
I hope this helps.
I much prefer C.W. McCall’s first song, “The Old Home Fillerup and Keep on Truckin’ Cafe.”
A related bit of trivia: The author of “Convoy” was Chip Davis, who went on to greater fame as the founder of Mannheim Steamroller
Before posting this, I did a quick Google search and found more than you probably ever wanted to know about the song here: http://www.angelfire.com/film/convoy/
Truckers have to weigh their loads and keep a log of the weights… the convoy also ran by the scales without being weighed… and tore up their log-books if I recall right.
some of this is a poor transcription too… "keep your thumbs off
your glass and the bears off your …tail. " for instance should be “keep the bugs off your glass” not thumbs… makes a bit more sense, no?
One of the authors was Chip Davis. The other was Bill Fries, aka C. W. McCall. The origin of the McCall character was a series of TV ads for Old Home bread, which featured the characters of McCall (not played by Fries at that time) and Mavis the truck-stop waitress. The commercials became so popular that after they ended, Fries assumed the character of McCall and began recording music.
As for why they called out all the armored cars and tanks and jeeps just because the trucks were speeding, I have a theory. Remember, this song came out in 1975, right at the height of the controversy over the 55 MPH (“double nickels”) speed limit from the Nixon administration. I think the overkill response was McCall/Fries’ way to satirize what was in many people’s opinion a pretty stupid law.
I’m a longtime McCall fan (since Convoy came out originally) so I was pleased to see this thread.
While I can’t speak for the rest of the slang in most of his songs, I can verify that “reefer” is slang for refridgerator. I picked it up from my parents, who picked it up from the military. Boy did I confuse people in high school with that one.
What’s the title of the song he does where the hippies invade a town? So damn funny…
Right on the call signs. I’ve always called them handles.
Kenworth is the type of truck he is driving.
‘cab over Pete’ is a Peterbuilt (truck brand) semi where the front of the cab is straight. The cab where the driver sits is over the engine therefore a cab-over. If you want I can dig up some photos.
A ‘refer’ refers to a refrigerated trailer.
Yes he is ‘hauling hogs’
‘Smoky’ and ‘Bear’ both refer to cops. No diferance except to make the lyrics flow.
‘huntin’ bear’ Not sure why exactly they would hunt bear(cops), except it sounds like fun.
National Guard response wouldn’t be appropriate for speeding except you have several (85 at one point) large trucks (todays max weight is 80,000lbs) going accross several states. Cops may have a hard time stopping them on their own. Also as pointed out they tore up thier ‘swindle sheets, and left ‘em sittin’ on the scales’. Meaning the log books they are required to keep.
‘eleven longhaired friends of Jesus. In a chartreuse microbus’ Exactly what it says. Microbus being a VW bus. Always wanted a chartreuse microbus just because of this song.
‘suicide jockey’ is someone hauling a dangerous load. Would you mind having ‘eleven longhaired friends of Jesus’ with you when hauling something dangerous?
OK was that everything? Also I love the second version of convoy. Not sure if CW McCall did it or not, but it has them going around the world. Best line from that song - ‘a strudle machine just blew the doors of the Duck’
My favorite CW McCall song(Love them all) is Wolf Creak Pass. “put 2 and 2 together added 12, and carried 5. Came up with 22,000 telephone poles an hour”
That’s the sequel, 'Round the World with the Rubber Duck. It’s also by Bill Fries and Chip Davis. They follow the microbus and drive on the ocean…at least the ones with enough faith.
I like McCall’s “Black Bear Road” as much as “Convoy” It’s about a family driving a rented jeep over a rough mountain road. Funny thing is there really is a Black Bear Road, and at one time it did have the sign mentioned in the song("You don’t have to be crazy to drive this road but it helps. My dad took a picture of my mom standing beside the sign, when they were trail biking in the mountains.
