The Philosophy of Modern Song: On the road again (save a horse)

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Tony Attwood

By Tony Attwood

Preface: I should have written this at the start of the very first article in this series but I didn’t, so here it is now.  What fascinates me most in looking at the songs Bob selected for “The Philosophy” is the links to music that emerge in the articles.   It is not so much the songs that Bob chose to review in this “Philosophy,” nor is it what Bob wrote (which you may recall if you read the early articles, I find very confusing), but the songs that Bob’s selection then makes me remember.  Songs which often seem to link to other songs and then to other songs, and on and on….   Of course, I still listen to my own favourite albums, but with a lifetime of listening to, performing and writing music, some of the most wonderful pieces I have found across the years can easily be forgotten and lost.  And then suddenly I hear something or read something, and I am sent on another journey of rediscovery.

My view thus far has been that as these trigger moments regularly happen as I work through the songs Bob chose in his “Philosophy” and I often feel I shouldn’t really be writing too much about them – after all, my designated topic is the collection of songs Bob chose for his volume, not the songs his choices bring to my mind.

But the point about music – or rather one of the points about music – is that it can trigger memories and thoughts from the past that can take us into other places, and to memories of other people, and that I really value.  Plus, for me, it can take us to images that are never to be found in paintings, drawings or photographs.   Some of the songs I love as songs.   Almost all of them, I value as the starting point for a vast array of memories.

So it is here with “On the road again,” which has through a curious route taken me back to a song that I first heard about 20 years ago, and probably last played maybe ten years ago.

I shall try and set out a decent review of what Bob wrote about, and the song that his article made me remember, and hope that even if you don’t enjoy that digression, I might still appreciate my point.    Which is this… If we hold memories of songs, those memories can be triggered in utterly unexpected ways and can help us gain insights into feelings that cannot be expressed in words.

OK, so this is getting to be weirdly philosophical, but with the point that this triggering of memories, is one of the many things music can do for us.   And it comes up here because in trying to write this article about “On the road again” I have just found another song I have not listened to for maybe ten years, and I am uplifted beyond measure by hearing it again.  It is not the song I started out writing about, but that doesn’t matter.

So, back to the start.  “On the road again,” written and recorded by Willie Nelson

And of course here, perhaps more than anywhere else, we can understand just from the title why Bob Dylan might want to include this song – it is a quite straightforward celebration of touring – and of course Bob himself wrote a song with the same title.   Musically and lyrically, this version above could never be imagined as a Bob Dylan song – the opening chord change is one that I have never heard in any Dylan song, and the use of repetition is something that I would never associate with any song Bob has written.

Many of the lines are repeated – some several times – but within the essence of the song, that doesn’t seem to matter because it is just a celebration.   Here’s a collection of the key lines from across what is in essence a straight two and a half minute bouncy pop tune…

I just can't wait to get on the road againThe life I love is making music with my friendsGoin' places that I've never beenSeein' things that I may never see againLike a band o' gypsies, we go down the highwayWe're the best of friendsInsisting that the world keep turning our way

Bob clearly loves touring – he has no need to go on doing it, but he does, and maybe he does feel that he is a part of a band of gypsies – but that is not how he would express it.   But obviously he knows the song well; after all he chose it for “The Philosophy”.   For Bob, touring and popular music go together.   Folk music spread throughout Britain from the mid-13th century onwards – possibly earlier – and for most of its existence it has simply been learned and sung, as travellers moved from one settlement to another.

Now obviously all is different and this song that Bob has chosen was written for the film “Honeysuckle Rose”.   Willie Nelson starred in the movie in 1980, and the song reached the national charts and the C&W charts.   It won a Grammy award for “Best Country Song”.

But its fame went further as Rolling Stone magazine selected it as number 471 on the list of greatest songs of all time.  It has turned up in films and TV series from South Park” to “Ghostbusters Afterlife.”    So it is incredibly well known, it speaks of a lifestyle that Bob has lived for many years, and it symbolises a turning away from the working lives of so many, where one “settles down” has a family, and goes to work every day.

Indeed, although perhaps less true now, for many decades this song symbolised a world to which many would aspire – a life in which one could travel onwards, enjoying life, not stuck in a “9 to 5” reality and a home and life that was unfulfilling.

I can’t fully appreciate the song lyrically, however, because I actually like where I live and like being settled here.  An English village, tall trees, open fields, woodland, the river that runs through the river.   But I know that for many people I’ve met, the idea of travelling on, is still there.

Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because of the very regular and well-established structure of the song, it is for me just a piece of music.  Not a lifestyle to aspire to.  And perhaps it is interesting also that althoguh Bob tours so much, he has never once played “On the Road Again” on tour.   I wonder why.

So here we have a song that symbolises an ideal – travelling on without worry or concern.  No thoughts of where one is going to stay, no concerns about money… it is idealised.  And for band members who love touring, it is the ideal.  And for those who have never done it, the idea of touring with the band could be seen through this song as an ideal, for the song elevates touring into being a very special form of existence.   And as so often in human experience, we find that while some people can utterly adore a particular experience, others find it means nothing to them.

Indeed, the lyrics have it all from the start…

On the road againI just can't wait to get on the road againThe life I love is making music with my friendsAnd I can't wait to get on the road again On the road againGoin' places that I've never beenSeein' things that I may never see againAnd I can't wait to get on the road againEverybody sing

For Bob, and for Willie Nelson, this is a statement of perfection.  But for me, in the midst of all this, my mind wandered, and I found in my head an utterly different set of lyrics

'Cause I saddle up my horseAnd I ride into the cityI make a lot of noise'Cause the girls they are so prettyRiding up and down BroadwayOn my old stud LeroyAnd the girls saySave a horse, ride a cowboy

Obviously both have travel themes, but the feeling is utterly different, and that sudden flashback made me quite aware that it was not only the music of “On the road again” that didn’t do anything for me, but also the whole concept of venerating travel.   I have travelled quite a lot – not least because I live in England and have a daughter in Australia, and I lived in Africa for a year as well.   So maybe I’m done with travel, which perhaps is why suddenly out of the blue “Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy” came to mind

Since I first heard that song about 20 years ago I have loved it – and today I embrace it again as being the antithesis of “On the road again”.

“On the road again” was written for the film “Honeysuckle Rose”  which Willie Nelson starred in and it was an immediate hit as well as getting lots of awards.   Which shows that my taste and ability to review songs is in fact very personally based.  In 2011, “On the Road Again” was inducted to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

For Bob Dylan, I think, being on the road, even in his 80s, is still his ideal way of life.  Somehow, it seems to give him everything he wants, and he keeps on keeping on.  And indeed I think it is fascinating to see how his shows and his singing, and ultimately his recitation of lyrics, have evolved over time – which I hope has become apparent to some degree in “The Concert Series” – the index to how far we have got with that appears in the most recent episode.

So we can see just why Bob chose this song – it encapsulates his way of life and what he wants to do.   As a lifestyle I don’t understand it at all – I like being at home and on the walks in and around my village, and driving to local dances but then each to his own…

Previously in this series

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