John Hiatt "Drive South"

I wrote a long time back that I would be doing occasional "Seminal Moments" entries, about the handful of songs that aren't just memories, but marked major changes in my life.

I haven't done one in a while.

Admittedly, it's because the prospect of trying to distill these watershed events, into a blog entry, is pretty damn intimidating.

But I've been staring at the list for months now. Time to write these.

I had just turned 21. Had a new girlfriend I was deeply in love with. We went record shopping.

One of the great things about her, was that while we shared a lot of musical favorites, she was introducing me to all kinds of artists that I knew a little about, but hadn't delved into yet.

In a record store in downtown Amherst, I bought my first John Hiatt record, "Slow Turning" on her recommendation.

I'd read a lot about Hiatt in Rolling Stone, but he wasn't the kind of guy who got a lot of radio airplay in 1990, so I didn't really know the music.

We listened to that record a lot during our senior year of UMass, with the specter of "The Real World" looming, getting ever closer.

What were we going to do when we graduated? And what would become of us?

Hiatt knew.

A few weeks after graduation, I had my Toyota Tercel idling in my parents' driveway packed to the gills with everything I owned (which really wasn't that much).

Her sister lived in South Florida, so that's where she was going. She had asked me if I'd go with her. It seemed like as good a place as any to start Real Life. And, at the time, I couldn't imagine Real Life without her.

I remember watching my parents waving goodbye from the front porch, doing their best imitation of stoic souls, knowing they would go in the house and cry for an hour.

Part of me wanted to cry too. But it was overwhelmed by feelings of elation, freedom, promise and young love.

I put Hiatt on the car stereo, and sang along with Hiatt as I headed onto Route 95 for the next several hundred miles:

"C'mon Baby, Drive South, with the one you love."


Hear the song on Youtube.