Song of the Day

Song: The Road To Ensenada

Artist: Lyle Lovett

Album: The Road To Ensenada

Year: 1996

Source: Personal Collection.

Makes Me Think of & etc.: Today was a Lyle Lovett kinda day. But, nearly any day is a Lyle Lovett kinda day for me. Lovett is one of maybe three artists whose music I will buy unheard. New Lyle album? I'm there. I have all his albums, save two – a “Greatest Hits” collection (what’s the point?) and the soundtrack he wrote for a movie called Dr. T and the Women. I don’t think you’ll find it in print, anywhere, but it’s my belief Lovett hit the apex of his song writing career after his divorce from Julia Roberts in the Spring of 1995. “Road” is the first album released after the divorce; it won the 1996 Grammy for Best Country Album. And the icing on the cake? Lovett is a biker, big-time. The first line from “Road,” the song, was allegedly inspired by a broken collar bone suffered during a dirt bike riding trip to Baja.

So what does the song remind me of? Well, not related in any way, shape, or form, but I remember when Lovett and Roberts married…it was the BIG discussion topic at work. The general buzz was “Who IS that tall ugly skinny dude, anyway? What the HELL got into Julia Roberts?” I was the only one in my circle of work friends that knew who Lovett was (EDS = mostly Yuppies. Just sayin'.). When a couple of these friends and I went to lunch that day, we took my car. I played a few Lovett tunes for them, from Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, including his amazing rendition of Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man.” Lyle picked up some new fans that day.

Lyrics:

As I lay sick and broken
Viva Mexico
My eyes just won't stay open
And I dream a dream of home
I dream a dream of home

Where there's coffee on the table
And kindness in your hand
Honey I'll help you when I'm able
But right now I'm feeling bad
Right now I'm feeling bad

Listen to your heart that beats
And follow it with both your feet
And as you walk and as you breathe
You ain't no friend to me
You ain't no friend to me

The road to Ensenada
Is plenty wide and fast
If you head South from Tijuana
Then I'll see you at last
I'll see you at last

But my eyes they open slowly
And they look around the room
The old man he seems worried
And there ain't no sign of you
There ain't no sign of you

Listen to your heart that beats
And follow it with both your feet
And as you walk and as you breathe
You ain't no friend of me
You ain't no friend of me

You can offer to the righteous
The good that you have won
But down here among the unclean
Your good work just comes undone
Your good work just comes undone

The sisters at the borderline
They're holding out their hands
They're begging me for something Lord
But I don't understand
I don't understand

So it's adios to Alvero
Tell him to stay between the lines
And if he sees that Gabriella girl
Tell her I'll look her up next time
Say I'll look her up next time

Because the road to Ensenada
Is plenty wide and fast
And this time through Tijuana
Well it won't be my last
It won't be my last

Listen to your heart that beats
And follow it with both your feet
And as you walk and as you breathe
You ain't no friend of me
You ain't no friend of me
You ain't no friend of me