Photo: D. Paul Graham / Top Down and Over the Shoulder, circa 2014

Monday 5 Things^TM…..Acoustic Annotations in my Auto, Enroute from Athens…..Again…..

A couple of weeks ago I was back up in north Georgia with a client. Over the years I have spent a lot of time working up there and it was a pleasure to drive back to Savannah on backroads. “In the Air Tonight” came on XM, and I turned it up to ear-bleed, speaker damaging levels. A big grin crossed my lips as I recalled many such drives in the past and this M5T in particular from over 6 years ago, and I wanted to share it with you once again. The songs remain the same (I won’t get into Zeppelin here) but I shall once again refrain from mention of actual speed to protect the guilty.

Many of you may know that given the choice between driving or flying, I prefer to embrace the joy of flight when I travel. However, a client in north Georgia is easier to get to by car than by plane. Heading back to Savannah Friday afternoon was another exceptional driving day.

1. A Record (pun intended).

I will be contacting the people at Guinness World Book of Records. I believe I now hold the record for the most repetitive replays sung at the top of my lungs of “All Along the Watch Tower”. Covers of one of Dylan’s best by Hendrix, U2, Clapton and Kravitz, Vedder, Young, Matthews and Hedges are all still on my playlist.

2. Don’t Slow Me Down.

It is physically impossible and almost painful for me to stay at the speed limit when Doucette’s “Momma Let Him Play”, April Wine’s “Roller”, Def Leppard’s “Photograph”, Golden Earrings “Twilight Zone”, or Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” are played when I’m behind the wheel of a car.

3. Of Phil and Samas.

Listening to “In the Air Tonight” gave me a big smile from the memories of being 18 years old driving up to a friend’s camp for weekend parties north of Thunder Bay. Back then I drove an orange Ford Courier truck with 2000 cc’s of mind-numbing slowness – I think 0 to 60 mph took about 2 weeks. However, I still don’t miss a beat of the epic mid-song drum roll banged out on my steering wheel. I do however genuinely miss seeing old friends at Samas’ camp. All wonderful memories indeed.

4. Spicy.

I’m not sure which realization was more disturbing to me – the fact that I still have the first Spice Girls album in my music archive, or when it dawned on me that I knew all the words to “Wannabe”.

5. Red Lines.

A long undulating Georgian country back-road in the middle of nowhere, clearly no place for a sheriff to hide. Stopping at the high point in the middle of the road, taking in the beauty of harvested cotton fields on a sunny day, and checking once more for sheriffs. Then accelerating and shifting through six gears, the rumble and whine of twin turbos as good as any song, three digits on the speedometer with room left to the red line, top down, and brightly colored fall leaves dancing in the wind stream behind the car….yeah.. ‘nuf said on that.

Here’s to a great Monday, not holding back from singing at the top off your lungs in the car and a great week for all y’all!

© 2021 D. Paul Graham, all rights reserved.

M5T is now on South Magazine… Read it here…..

D. Paul Graham is passionate about people, culture, photography and business. He has embraced his wanderlust with his travels around the globe and is at peace with his need for spirited drives in all things automotive.

You can find M5T each Monday here on www.southmag.com and by friending D. Paul Graham on Facebook. Paul is also a contributing photographer to South Magazine. His photographic work can be found on Instagram @dpgraham and at www.imageGRAHAM.com . Your feedback is always welcome. Email Paul at dpg@imagegraham.com