The Road Goes On Forever by Robert Earl Keen is a country and western song, but please don’t let that put you off because it is a masterclass in pared-down cinematic writing. It’s so sparsely written that there is not a single wasted word in there.
Not. A. Single. One.
And yet, despite its brevity, it’s a breathtakingly beautiful love story that gets to the very heart of what it is like to be an alpha male in a blue-collar world.
The two protagonists are small-town Americans. Sherry was a waitress at the only joint in town, while Sonny was a loner he was older than the rest / He was going into the Navy but he couldn’t pass the test / So he hung around town he sold a little pot.
And not with impunity, because The law caught wind of Sonny and one day he got caught. Yet, and this is a theme throughout the song, he was back in business when they set him free again. And now, as at the end of every verse, Robert Earl Keen sings The road goes on forever and the party never ends.
They clearly know each other, possibly because Sherry had a reputation as a girl who’d been around and Sonny plays 8-ball at the joint where Sherry works. And, like so many close-knit communities, they look out for each other; they might be happy to take the tourists’ money, but when some drunken outta towner put his hand up Sherry’s skirt Sonny reacts immediately and instinctively: he took his pool cue laid the drunk out on the floor.
And this is where the real genius of the story starts to be told; he then Stuffed a dollar in her tip jar and walked on out the door. Tell me that’s not a class act — he might be a naval reject and a convicted drug dealer, but to stop and tip Sherry, as he made his exit before the police arrived, is chivalrous in the extreme.
And the mark of an alpha male. He didn’t insist on an apology, or remonstrate and bluster. No, he just used his damned pool cue and took care of business.
Sherry appreciated the gesture; it’s not clear whether it was Sonny leaping to her defence, or taking the time to tip her properly, or both, but She’s runnin’ right behind him reachin’ for his hand is the wonderful line in which we establish that for all their faults, they’re both just looking for happiness. Sherry might also be looking for someone to protect her, to treat her with dignity and respect. She is, let us not forget a reputation as a girl who’d been around and perhaps Sonny is the first person who’s treated her right?
Robert Earl Keen then goes on to solidify the relationship with the lines They jumped into his pickup Sonny jammed her down in gear / Sonny looked at Sherry and said let’s get on outta here. He acts decisively, taking charge. And Sherry is happy to let him.
They head for the shore and get a hotel by the water and a quart of Bombay gin. There’s real romance there, and pragmatism too. A nomadic life is expensive, and they soon run out of money. Sonny again takes charge because He knows some Cuban refugees that dealt in contraband.
It, predictably enough, goes wrong, and The Law came bustin’ in. Sonny manages to escape, only to be apprehended by an officer – and it is at this point that Sherry changes from being the passive, almost submissive person in the relationship and shows that she is actually more than capable of protecting Sonny too: She stepped into the alley with a single-shot .410.
This reversal of roles left me stunned when I first heard it. While Sonny has a pistol in his boot, he doesn’t use it. Sherry, on the other hand, has no such reservations and shoots the police officer in cold blood to save the person that she, if not loves, admires and considers to be her man. With a single line, Robert Earl Keen turns the story on its tail, forcing the listener to rethink the entire narrative, both spoken and inferred. And this is what he is so good at: painting a picture with just a few words. Springsteen, long my touchstone in these matters thanks to songs such as Thunder Road
and Meeting Across The River (a song, incidentally, that inspired an entire book of short stories) looks verbose and bloated compared to Earl Keen’s.
The roles continue to be more fluid from thereon in. Sonny not only then gives her all the money and blew her a little kiss, he also went on to instruct Sherry If they ask you how this happened say I forced you into this. Again, further proof of Sonny’s alpha male status; while office-bound wannabes study body language, psychology and any number of other arcane and largely discredited tricks on how to portray yourself as an alpha, Sonny just takes care of business and goes on to willingly take responsibility for the consequences.
And the consequences are harsh. Its Main Street after midnight just like it was before / 21 months later at the local grocery store / Sherry buys a paper and a cold 6-pack of beer / The headlines read that Sonny is goin’ to the chair. Yup, he’s going to die for a crime he didn’t commit.
Sherry’s response? She pulls back onto Main Street in her new Mercedes Benz. Because, of course, The road goes on forever and the party never ends…
There are many versions of this song, both by Robert Earl Keen and others. My favourites are Joe Ely’s version, which appears on the live album ‘Live Dinner Reunion’ or, for the full-on Robert Earl Keen experience, try another live version, this time on his album ‘Best’. The speed in Earl Keen sings it in his distinctive voice makes for a riotous sing-a-long in which the audience joins in enthusiastically.
Oh, and if you like this, then you really must listen to Gringo Honeymoon.
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