Why this tune?
I first thought about updating the Bobby Troup classic “Route 66” for the infamous Northern Virginia Interstate 66 soon after I moved back to the area in 2010, but didn’t get around to it until last week. It was only last week, on a drive back to DC on I-66 from a short road trip, that the lyrics started to bubble up in my brain. After I got home, I sat down to write the lyrics. The bridge required some quality time with a map and a list of exits off the highway to get the sequence right. The stops along I-66 don’t rhyme quite as well as the towns along the historic Route 66.
The final video includes some visual aids and a shoutout to the DC Metro subway, which now runs alongside the highway closer to DC, taunting stuck commuters as it “glides by on the left.”
Tunes On Tuesday Reel
Check it out!
Route 66: Nat King Cole
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 