Planes Trains and Automobiles – Part Two

The Department of Transportation has influenced rock n’ roll for decades and we’re here to tell you how. Here’s part two of “Planes Trains and Automobiles” songs.

“Drive My Car” is the instantly recognizable Beatles’ song written by Paul McCartney and the ‘B’ side to the hit single ‘Michelle’ from the album “Rubber Soul.” The song is really about Cilla Black (who recently passed way this year) and her boyfriend Bobby Willis (who she later married). Cilla was a dear friend of the Beatles and longtime pal of the manager Brian Epstein.

“Wooden Ships” is the haunting ballad written by Crosby, Stills, and then Jefferson Airplane band member Paul Kantner. The problem was that due to legal issues Paul couldn’t be credited as a co-writer, although Jefferson Airplane released it later that year.

Wooden Ships was written in the middle of the Vietnam War and the period of rising cold war attitudes between the USA and Russia.

Honorable mentions go to The Beach Boys, “Sloop John B”, Jethro Tull and “Locomotive Breath.” “Rock and Roll Train” from AC/DC, “Crazy Train” from Ozzy Osbourne, and Aerosmith’s “Train Kept a Rollin.”

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