1965 Songs: King of the Road
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (73831)
United States
April 11, 2025 10:55am CST
So…have you been dancing too much to the R&B I’ve been using from 60 years ago? You get a break today from dancing…however, your fingers just might get a heavy workout from snapping along. Back to 1965 for one of the few country songs that “everybody” knows.
King of the Road - Roger Miller
What is the best thing about this song? Thumbs Carlisle’s finger snapping? Bob Moore’s incredible bass work? Or just the lyrics celebrating the life of a hobo?
It’s hard to tell, because together it’s such a perfect song. And, remember, 1965 was the height of Beatlemania, so for some country song to stand out in that time is almost as amazing as having it stick in American pop culture for six decades.
I’ve told this story before, but here it comes again: one of the most memorable things to ever happen at a concert I was at came when Robbie Fulks had an “I Heart Roger Miller” night during his residency at the Hideout in Chicago. Okay, remember, this is 2015 and in Chicago. The last song Robbie did that night was “King of the Road.” He just started the “trailers for sale” and the entire audience picked up from there. We sang the song to HIM. In Chicago. In 2015.
THAT is the mark of a truly legendary song. I don’t think that’s what Roger Miller was aiming for, but that’s definitely what he achieved.
King of the Road
Written by Roger Miller
Recorded by Roger Miller
From The Return of Roger Miller, 1965
I ain’t got no cigarettes:
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14 people like this
13 responses
@RasmaSandra (84138)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
11 Apr
A song I once heard so often I could not stand it anymore
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (146051)
• United States
12 Apr
That's the way I felt about Elvira! People played it so much I'd turn the radio or stereo off when it came on.
3 people like this
Ahh haaa, I get it. Unfortunately I can't snap my fingers anymore, my hands just can't seem to do that.
Ohhh but what a song. He had some really kool tunes which I loved back then.@FourWalls (73831)
• United States
11 Apr
I know what you mean. They gave me some putty to “play” with to help the age/arthritis in my hands, along with Voltaren gel. But at least the chair’s getting a break (unless you go to the 1960 song and dance to “Poetry in Motion” 
).
).2 people like this
@Orson_Kart (7294)
• United Kingdom
11 Apr
Great song and great singer. This is still played a lot over here. 
2 people like this
@FourWalls (73831)
• United States
12 Apr
Gets a lot of airplay on my iPod, I guarantee you of that!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (73831)
• United States
11 Apr
He had a number of hits as a singer AND as a songwriter. Brooks and Dunn had a hit with a song of his called “Husbands and Wives.”
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (146051)
• United States
11 Apr
I heard this song a lot when I was out drinking in bars with friends in my twenties.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (73831)
• United States
12 Apr
And it’s surprising in some cases as well, like people in a bar in Chicago knowing every word to an old country song. It’d be like an American audience knowing all the words to “Waltzing Matilda.” I saw a clip of Glenn Frey singing “Wild Mountain Thyme” (also known as “Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go”) in Ireland and the audience all sang along. Good chills!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (351224)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Apr
@FourWalls The hairs stand up, don't they? We watched a YouTube of a huge Galway crowd joining in the Galway Girl but that was arranged I guess although all very off the cuff. All sorts of ages with all sorts of instruments joining with gusto. People singing and dancing. Great stuff.
There was another good one in Belfast but I'm not sure of the song.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (187033)
• United States
12 Apr
Another classic. Roger looks so young!!!
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (42932)
•
12 Apr
I wonder how many times I've heard this song? My grandparents had a juke box in their little cafe for years. I know people played that song so many times, it was one of the records that just wore completely out. I did get pretty tired of it then, but now when I hear it, I only remember the time and place. So, you've given me yet another good memory, and I truly do thank you! 
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (42932)
•
14 Apr
@FourWalls
I remember two of the others that I go so, so tired of hearing on that juke box, Harper Valley PTA, and A Boy Named Sue. My grandmother got so tired of those two, she threatened (she never would have done it) to break into the juke box to steal those two records!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (73831)
• United States
14 Apr
@MarieCoyle — yeah, I’d say they were both overplayed. Tom T. Hall wrote “Harper Valley PTA,” but don’t hold that against him.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (73831)
• United States
17 Apr
There’s a romanticism about train-riding hobos in America. I am fascinated by it myself. I guess that’s why this song was so popular.
1 person likes this
