Bruce Spencer, the drummer in my live group "Love Ride 7," is that rare phenomenon, a drummer who sits around at his house playing keyboards. He has an interesting, lyrical quality to the stuff he creates; his melodies float around in places where you don't expect them to be. He gave me a piece of tape with a song he wanted me to listen to. As happens sometimes, the piece of music I couldn't stop listening to was the piece he'd left on the other side of the tape. I played it over and over, day after day, sort of trance-like. I finally realized it didn't have a chorus, so I wrote one that seemed to pay off, with a little twist. Then I added a bridge, a straight-ahead "middle eight." It seemed to be a "driving late at night" kind of song, so I went with that feeling, and at the right moment, the chorus lyric occurred, which was the thing the song needed to give it a cutting edge. I wrote the bridge lyric to sharpen that edge a little, and the whole thing seemed suitably song-like. I sang it for Bruce and he liked it. We added the chorus and bridge, on his keyboard sequencer, to the part he already had written.

Bruce recorded the drums with our friend Geno engineering; there was only enough room in the control room for one person standing up, so I left them to do it. Then we prevailed on Ralph Stover to let us have some cheap time at his studio, and we recorded the vocals and bass, and finished it in one afternoon. I played the song with Lance on guitar and me on bass at a songwriter showcase at the Troubador in Los Angeles, and I was so haunted by what Lance did with it on guitar, that I went back to the tape and had Lance Taber play acoustic guitar over the track at the last minute.

I've got something to show you
And I can take you there
We'll go for a ride
We can sit side by side
In rainy weather
It'll make you feel better to drive somewhere
If there's something you fear
We can make it disappear in the rearview mirror
There's a long, long stretch of road
Somewhere we can go drive away
	We don't have to beg for mercy
	We don't have to do just what they say
	Like Bonnie and Clyde
	We'll go for a ride and drive away
Here we're alone
With an open window
This bird has flown in the open air
There's no prettier sight
Than seeing you by the dashboard light
There's no prettier sound
Than rain on the roof with the radio down
Is this the way to Mexico?
Somewhere we can go drive away
	We don't have to beg for mercy
	We don't have to do just what they say
	We'll get in the car
	We'll come back tomorrow
	But today we'll drive away
		I've seen your trouble and you've seen mine
		We need a cure that's strong
		Ah baby, but in the meantime
		I know a road straight and long
I hear the thunder
It's a dark cloud we're under, but it's all right
If there's something you fear
We can make it disappear in the rearview mirror tonight
There's a quiet place I know
Somewhere we can go drive away
	We don't have to beg for mercy
	We don't have to do just what they say
	Like Bonnie and Clyde
	They'll see our red tail lights drive away
	We don't have to face their music
	We don't have to do it all their way
	We'll get in the car
	We'll come back tomorrow
	But today we'll drive away

Bruce Spencer -- harmony vocal, drums, and keyboards
Lance Taber -- acoustic guitar
Larry Tagg -- lead vocal and bass
Recorded at some guy's garage by Geno,
Audio Production Group by Ralph Stover, and
David's mom's garage by David Houston
Mixed by Ralph Stover