Watching Drivers Sing

One of the few random perks that your fellow drivers can provide you while out on the road is watching them awkwardly singing.

You know the routine. You’re driving, a song comes on the radio you really like and suddenly you find yourself singing along with it. You get lost in your performance while belting out the words while behind the wheel and looking like a real idiot. Meanwhile there’s a good chance another driver has noticed this and is now enjoying watching you make a fool of yourself. You might not know it, but you’re caught and have been putting a show on for your comrades in transit.

I always found this a fun little diversion when I happened upon these little singing moments and caught a driver singing along with a song. And I have to be sure to clarify these incidents. What doesn’t count are those nuts who have huge sound systems blasting horrible music that can be heard from two towns away and they’re bobbing their heads all over the place to it. That’s just plain annoying.

I have no idea why these people need music so friggin’ loud and have to attract attention to themselves. There must be something psychological issues going. No one can convince me they love a song that much to have it make their ears bleed.

I’m talking about a sole driver, windows rolled up and you spot them obviously singing a song. Visually it might not sound so interesting, but that’s when the importance of the accompanying soundtrack comes in and a little work and luck comes into play.

You see, you know these people are singing to something, so you quickly start flipping through radio stations to see if you can find exactly what station they’re listening to and pin down the song that has engulfed them. If you’re lucky you find it. You can instantly see their lips and head motions match up to the discovered song. Now you have your own goofy song performance to marvel at while sitting at the red light. They most likely have no idea how much entertainment they’re providing to anyone – or that anyone is actually watching them! They probably forgot all about the possibility of looking silly.

It’s always a real kick if you manage to find the song and discover it completely contradicts what you would have predicted this driver would be rocking out to. Like a middle-aged balding dweeby looking guy singing Call Me Maybe or a blue-haired, nose-pierced teen crooning along with Barry Manilow.

This little auto pastime has occurred less and less. Thanks to satellite radio, ipods and so many alternate ways for folks to listen to whatever they want when they’re on the move plain old FM/AM radio is fading out fast. So the likelihood of catching someone warbling to a tune you can quickly access is not on your side.

It’s kinda of shame. I miss catching those little moments. It’s just another one of those random little mundane observational things that the evolution of technology is making extinct.