Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses
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"Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" is a song written by Paul Nelson and Gene Nelson, and recorded by American
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
artist Kathy Mattea. It was released in March 1988 as the second single from her album ''
Untasted Honey ''Untasted Honey'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Kathy Mattea. It was released in 1987 on Mercury Records. The album produced Mattea's first Number One hit on the ''Billboard'' country charts in its lead-off single "G ...
''. The song hit number one on both the US and Canadian Country charts in 1988.


Content

The song is about a truck driver named Charlie who is retiring after thirty years to spend more time with his wife. The song mentions Charlie receiving a gold watch, a common retirement gift. The song's chorus counts down from the number 18 (the number of wheels) to 12 (the roses), until Charlie eventually reaches the "one that he loves."


Music video

The video was directed by May/Sams. The video opens with Mattea dining at the Pie Wagon, a diner off Music Row in Nashville, when a truck driver approaches her and asks for her autograph as a present for his wife. Here, we learn that her first name is Nina. Throughout the video, there are scenes of Mattea on her tour bus, performing with her band, and scenes of the truck driver. In the end, the driver makes it home, his wife greeting him, and he hands her the dozen roses mentioned in the song's lyric, as they walk arm in arm into their house; Kathy turns off the lights to the bus, and the video ends with a shot of various trucks driving on the highway.


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


External links


Lyrics at cmt.com


References

{{authority control 1988 singles 1987 songs Kathy Mattea songs Songs written by Paul Nelson (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Allen Reynolds Mercury Records singles Songs written by Gene Nelson (songwriter) Songs about truck driving