Get Your Kicks
Lots of musicians have recorded the song, “Route 66,” but before Depeche Mode did it, it was just a US highway to me. After all, we have Interstates now, so there’s an easier route to get from here to California. The Grapes of Wrath made the road more personal, even though I have yet to drive any part of it. And any time I hear others sing the song, it makes me want to drive that road and stop for Coca-Colas at every town they mention - St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Amarillo, Gallup, Flagstaff, Wynonna, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino. You get the picture.
But when Depeche Mode recorded it, “route 66″ suddenly turned from a highway into a sexual position. I mean, how could it not, after such tunes as “Master and Servant” and “Strangelove”? And when they sang, “let me show you the world through my eyes,” it was dripping with innuendo. I had never seen the video, but I’ll share it now. It’s gratuitously cryptic, I think. Not sure what the deal is with the multiplying babies or alien sitings, but there’s certainly some imagery to support my interpretation.