The Wagon Wheel

“Wagon Wheel”
A “narrative” is defined as being a “written or spoken account of connected events” (“Narrative”). Narratives come in various forms. For instance, in English class many of the short stories we read are narratives. However, movies, television shows and songs, are also examples of narratives. Even our lives are considered our own personal narratives in which we are the writer, the main character and often times the reader. The writings of our narratives help us make sense of some of the traumatic events we face throughout our lives (Gobodo-Madikizela and van der Merwe 2). In some cases, we make sense of these events by reading or listening to other people’s narrative.
“Life as a Narrative” demonstrates how certain events, both

minor and major, alter the course of the story. In our own life narratives, we are the main character but, in another person’s narrative we may just be a guest appearance in a particular episode of their life (Gobodo-Madikizela and van der Merwe 4). This effects the way we historicize. A historical trauma, like the loss of a loved one, carries huge weight for the family that is affected directly and it causes the trajectory of their lives to take a different shape (Gobodo-Madikizela and van der Merwe 11). However, within that family each individual experiences that loss differently because it is both a personal and communal historical trauma. This also occurs on a larger scale. When wars take place the event is upsetting world wide. In which case, the event becomes part of history globally and also individually for the people directly affected.
The outside text I examined is a Song covered by Darius Rucker called “Wagon Wheel.” The song was originally written by Bob Dylan and finished by Old Crow Medicine Show (Talbott par 6). The Darius Rucker version of this song is important in my personal narrative and it is also a narrative itself. The song is about a hitchhiker traveling from New England through Roanoke, VA to Raleigh North Carolina (Rucker). The hitchhiker travels along the east coast of the U.S. in hopes to escape the cold of the North and reunite with his lover. This is a good example of a narrative because it follows a particular man’s journey and his troubles and triumphs on the way. At the beginning of the song, he refers to seeing his “baby” and by the end of the song this girl is “the only one,” (Rucker). Maybe along his journey he discovered more about himself and the affection he feels for his lover. We see this man go through a spiritual journey and make significant changes in his life. To the narrator there is a sense of freedom in the south that the north is lacking. He was essentially running away from the north because he lost all of his money gambling and running toward the south to embrace familiarity and to see his lover. He also has hopes to get away from the cold.
Narratives are very personal, they often times represent something very meaningful to the author. While writing a narrative the writer may open up and display very raw emotions. Wagon Wheel displays this idea. One of the co-writers of this song, Ketch Secor, the other being the legendary Bob Dylan, wrote many of the lyrics while going to school in New Hampshire, inspiration came from his desire to be back home in Virginia (Talbott par 8). The verses of this song paint a picture of the day dream he may have been having while experiencing homesickness. The song may have been a way for Ketch to get those feelings down on paper and escape the sadness he was feeling. This was Ketch Secor’s way of interpreting and dealing with his personal historical trauma of leaving home.
The narrator has a negative perspective towards the north and a very positive perspective for the south. This is an example of the bias we find in narratives. Dori Laub examines in his essay, “Bearing Witness, or the Vicissitudes of Listening,” how the bias that occurs in narratives causes the historical context of the story to lose validity. This is not my own personal opinion nor do I consider it to be Laub’s, I believe that narratives should have bias because we do not write them intentionally for the grand scheme of history, instead we write them with the intentions of explaining or describing our personal history. There is definitely evidence of bias throughout “Wagon Wheel.” Of course, he feels more affectionate about the South than the North because the South is his home and it is where he feels most comfortable. So far his only experiences in the North, that he documents, are bad ones, the cold winters and the absence of familiarity (Rucker). To the narrator the south is a representation of being home, with loved ones, essentially being free of troubles and worries. He tells the story of his journey home and hope for reuniting with the love of his life. This is probably why the song creates such a warm feeling for those who hear it. However, this song displays how challenging it would be to live in the North after growing up in the South. It displays that there are still controversial issues that divide the south. The north and south are very different environments and contain two very different cultures. There has always been a sort of separation between the north and the south, due to both location and belief systems. Everything from religion to politics to traditions differ between the north and the south. They share the same history but with different perspectives on most events. This dates back to before the Civil War, an event that can serve as a communal historical trauma that shaped the development of the United States. Moving far away from home to anywhere would make someone homesick, but moving somewhere that is almost completely opposite of what you're used to would be very overwhelming. The narrator says the “north country winters keep a-getting me down,” which displays the challenges he's had adjusting and makes perfectly good sense (Rucker).
Another theme I noticed in this song is the feeling of being free.

When I hear the song I feel very at peace, and I experience very whimsical feelings and feelings of being free. These feelings usually come to me when I hear the chorus and the lyrics, “Picking me a bouquet of dogwood flowers,” and “if I die in Raleigh at least I will die free,” to name a few. I like the lyric about the flowers because it become very visual and flowers are something I associate with being beautiful and delicate. The lyric about dying in Raleigh and being free, is one of my favorites because it is sung with such conviction that it expresses to me how much being home means to him. I think the whimsical feeling that is created also comes from the way Darius Rucker sings the song and the instruments used and how they’re played. I think the free feeling comes from it having such an easy going melody. Also in the lyrics the idea of escaping whatever you feel is holding you back from what you desire makes you feel a sense of freedom. I’d like to imagine myself being that adventurous and courageous. People want to be happy but often times end up accepting complacency or misery because it is the right thing to do. I’d like to think that if I were that unhappy I’d have the guts to do something about it. However, the topics it discusses, hitchhiking, smoking, and gambling, are all actions our society views in a very negative way. When you hear the song the narrator seems like a good guy, someone you

might want to be friends with or maybe you crave his feeling of freedom, he seems very at peace and gypsy like. However, in reality the way he lives his life may not be something people, say your parents, would be very impressed by or proud of.
Before knowing anything about the writers of this song and only strictly reading the verses, the protagonist of the song seems to be a man who lost his money gambling and is essentially running away from his problems (Rucker).

However, when you hear the song for the first time, for me it was on the radio, the song sounds very poetic and the protagonist seems to be going on a journey of self discovery. It also takes the form of a love song because he is reuniting with the love of his life. Finally, when you hear about the writer’s perspective of why and how he came to write the song it takes on a whole new meaning. Now it becomes a song about homesickness and the desire for familiarity. Those ideas were based on my personal thoughts and experiences with that song and I mean to mention these things because that is part of the beauty of narratives, they are up for interpretation. The writer is entitled to his meaning of the song or story; the reader is allowed to interpret it in his or her own way as well. This song could mean just about anything to every person and you can make that choice and let it mean what you want it to. It’s meaning may reflect the way you feel or maybe what you are experiencing in your life. Your interpretation is a reflection of who you are and if you can realize this you may be able to discover something about yourself you didn’t

know.
Now to reflect on what I mentioned in the third paragraph about “Wagon Wheel” being influential in my personal narrative. A little more than two years ago, I lost a very influential figure in my life to ALS. This was a very defining moment in my life and shaped who I have become. The whole experience, from my uncle’s diagnosis to his death ten years later, influenced my family’s history and became a monumental event in all of our lives. My mom lost her brother and my cousins lost their father, and everyone in my family felt this loss shatter their original framework of stability. How does “Wagon Wheel” fit into all of this? A few days before my uncle passed away a family friend entertained my uncle and the guests he allowed in his home with a playing of “Wagon Wheel,” one of my uncle’s favorite songs at the time. While Jake played, my uncle, all eighty pounds of him, tapped his foot to the beat, smiled a peaceful smile, and sang/hummed along to the tune. My family and I believe this to be one of the most beautiful moments of those last two weeks. In this case, I believe this song spoke to him on a very deep and personal level. My family and I have discussed this many times and we believe he was so entranced by the song because he knew he would soon be reunited with his wife and his mother. My grandmother and my Uncles wife had passed away only a few years earlier. For the situation he was in the song felt almost too perfect. While I don’t know his exact interpretation I do believe our interpretation was close. I think its really beautiful how someone else’s narrative, in this instance Ketch Secors, can be interpreted and appreciated in someone else’s.
My experiences that revolve around “Wagon Wheel” have affected how I interpret the song, because the song has held such importance in my life. Over the last few years I have had lots of time to examine what it means. In that time, I’ve decided it only matters what it means to me. Listening to the song has brought up both joyful and sorrowful memories, but I am very thankful that it is now part of my narrative.
Narratives, no matter what form they take, are personal. They are personal to both the narrator and the reader because their meaning can change and they can be interpreted a number of diverse ways. Some may find inspiration from them, others may find them to be nonsense, or enrage them because they are controversial. I think that is the beauty of narratives. I think is is remarkable how useful they can be by allowing you to find meaning in your life whether its through reading or writing them.