Hypnotized on a road trip

Driving for miles on an open road can be so meditative. If there’s no traffic and I’m the passenger, my mind wanders to the past, ponders current challenges and dreams for the future, often interchangeably.

Two summers ago, our family was on a road trip headed to Vegas and I drifted into this mode. One of my kids often interrupted my thoughts to inquire how much longer till we got there – the universal “are we there yet?” cliche we once annoyed our own parents with. We don’t have to watch the clock, I told him, just relax and enjoy the view. Yah, right.

Watching the clock, I don’t want to talk
Seeking answers in the vast blue sky
Mile after mile, we’ve been driving awhile
Towns blur as we pass by

Hypnotized by the white dotted line
Winding on the road ahead
Don’t know where we’re going but we’ll know
When we figure out where we’ve been

Sometimes a song on the radio directs the thought process, bringing up memories of when the song played a part in your past. Sometimes real-time occurrences – such as sudden stop in traffic – jolt you back to the present.

The radio’s on playing a song
My mind drifts to the past
You slam on the brakes, the memory fades
Narrowly avoiding a crash

One memory I have from childhood is driving from Mesa to Los Angeles with my dad and talking about the mirage on the road ahead. It was cool to also be having that same conversation with my own children.

Sometimes on a road trip, you may decide that it’s not worth the drive and you wonder if you should turn around, such as when you reach traffic in the middle of nowhere and have no idea what’s happening ahead and how long it will hinder your progress.

We reach the mirage then it disappears
Travel slowly ’til the traffic clears
Think of turning back but we persevere
Now we keep moving along

Driving, driving, driving, being hypnotized by that white dotted line winding on the dot ahead, thinking about the past and contemplating the future.

Hypnotized by the white dotted line
Winding on the road ahead
Don’t know where we’re going but we’ll know
When we figure out where we’ve been.

At the end of this road trip, we spent about a week in Vegas with relatives and I reworked the song in my head throughout the week. After getting home, I added the guitar and now when I listen to it, I hear that the guitar melody is basically the same throughout since I didn’t spend too much time on the guitar.

To me this song captures that period of time and I don’t really have any desire to do anything further with it.