Hey Mama, Don't Rock Me. Don't Rock Me One Bit.

Have you ever heard a song so much in your life that you wished you never heard it again?  Well, as much music as I listen to it's bound to happen.  But think about this.  Have you ever heard a song so much, but it never actually heard it played on the radio?  That is something to think about it.

I go to a lot of open mic nights and local shows.  So I tend to hear a lot of the same songs.  Here's an example.  Down here in Florida you are guaranteed to hear something from Jimmy Buffett.  It's just gonna happen so get used to it. 

But something struck me kind of strange when I started going to open mics.  I kept hearing this same song that I'd never heard before.  Now admittedly, local radio here in the Tampa Bay area is notorious for only playing classic rock.  So if anything new comes out that isn't Top 40 pop or classic rock, it is lost to the bay area. 

So what is this song I kept hearing? 

It turns out that it's called "Wagon Wheel" from "Old Crow Medicine Show."

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not saying it's a bad song.  It's quite catchy.  But it's very odd that I seem to hear it played out so much, but not on the radio. 

And speaking of radio, it turns out that, "Old Crow Medicine Show's" Ketch Secor wrote the song with Bob Dylan, but lots of other artists have covered it.

Like Darius Rucker (Of Hootie and the Blowfish):

Even Irish singer Nathan Carter got in on the act:

Even Sheryl Crow has played the song along with many, many others.  I won't name everyone since this list will start to get quite long.

When I started writing this blog I didn't realize I wasn't alone in my thought.  My searches took me to the Wikipedia page where it seems a lot of folks agree with me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagon_Wheel_(song)

Bans

It has become such a popular cover song at musical gatherings, venues and events that some discourage its performance.


The article also goes on to say that it has become almost as big as "Freebird" in terms of requests at bars.  So again, it seems that I am not alone in my opinions. 

So, in the end, I will leave it at this.  Hey Mama, don't rock me.  Don't rock me at all.  I can go the rest of my life without hearing that song.