"Drivin' My Life Away" is a song co-written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Eddie Rabbitt Edward Thomas Rabbitt (November 27, 1941 – May 7, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing hits such as " Kentucky Rain ...

. It was released in June 1980 as the first single from the album ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

''. The song was written by Rabbitt,

Even Stevens ''Even Stevens'' is an American comedy television series produced by Brookwell McNamara Entertainment that originally aired on Disney Channel from June 17, 2000, to June 2, 2003, airing a total of 65 episodes spanning three seasons. It follows ...

and David Malloy.

Content

The song is a look into the life of a truck driver and the long periods of time they spend away from home.

Commercial performance

Although many of Rabbitt's successful songs were country-pop material, "Drivin' My Life Away" began his peak popularity as a crossover artist. The song peaked at No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and set the stage for his biggest career hit: " I Love a Rainy Night," which reached the top on the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

charts in early 1981. Two more crossover hits - "Step by Step" and "You and I" (the latter a duet with

Crystal Gayle Brenda Gail Webb (born January 9, 1951), known professionally as Crystal Gayle, is an American country music singer widely known for her 1977 hit " Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Initially, Gayle's management and record label were the same ...

) - followed in 1981 and 1982. On ''Billboard's'' Hot Country Singles chart, it was his seventh out of 17 career chart toppers, spanning from 1976 through 1990. In 1981, "Drivin' My Life Away" was certified gold for sales of half a million units by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. It has also sold a further 267,000 digital copies in the US since it became available for download.

Uses in media

*It was featured on the soundtrack of the 1980 movie '' Roadie'' starring

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...

and

Art Carney Arthur William Matthew Carney (November 4, 1918 – November 9, 2003) was an American actor and comedian. A recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a Golden Globe Awards, Golden Globe Award, and six Primetime Emmy Awards, he was best kn ...

. *The song was covered in Kidsongs' 1987 video: What I Want to Be. *The song was covered in the 1987 Episode "Cup A' Joe" from The A-Team (season 3). *It was also featured on the soundtrack of the movie ''

Black Dog (1998 film) ''Black Dog'' is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by Kevin Hooks and starring Patrick Swayze. The film tells the story of a trucker and ex-con who is manipulated into transporting illegal arms. The film co-stars popular American ...

'' starring

Patrick Swayze Patrick Wayne Swayze ( ; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and dancer. Known for his romantic, tough, and comedic roles in blockbusters and cult films, Swayze was nominated for three Golden Glob ...

and

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country and gospel music singer and songwriter, as well as a film and television actor. Active since 1979, he has recorded over 20 studio albums and ...

and

. *The song was featured in the 2016 film '' Everybody Wants Some!!'' at a scene which takes place at a Texas country bar. *In Eddie Rabbitt's 1990 country hit "Running with the Wind" he mentions the 1980 crossover hit "Drivin' My Life Away" with the following lyric: I listen to the windshield wipers go/Just like the song I used to know/I'm drivin' my life away, hey/Drivin' my life away. *The song is featured in the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

program ''The Americans'', season 6, episode 4, during a line dancing scene. *The song is featured at the beginning and at the end of the 2018 film ''Finding Steve McQueen''.

Charts

"Drivin' My Life Away" was released in 1980 as the first single from his album ''

''. It reached number one on the

Hot Country Singles Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, and peaked at No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Rhett Akins cover

In 1998,

artist

Rhett Akins Thomas Rhett Akins Sr. (born October 13, 1969) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Decca Records between 1994 and 1997, he released two albums for that label (1995's ''A Thousand Memories'' and 1996's ''Somebody New (a ...

recorded a cover version of this song for the soundtrack to the 1998 film '' Black Dog''. This cover, released with Lee Ann Womack's "A Man with 18 Wheels" on the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

, peaked at number 56 on the country music charts. Akins told ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' that he was "apprehensive" about recording the song because of the familiarity of Rabbitt's original version. He also said that he wanted to record the song "the way I want to do it", but also that he wanted it to fit with the tone of the movie. As he did not know what the movie was going to be about, he consulted its director,

Kevin Hooks Kevin Hooks (born September 19, 1958) is an American actor, and a television and film director; he is notable for his roles in '' Aaron Loves Angela'' and '' Sounder'', but may be best known as Morris Thorpe from TV's '' The White Shadow''. Earl ...

, who flew to Nashville and told him the movie's plot and tone. Akins felt that the movie "was going to be high energy", so he made his rendition "a pretty rockin' track, real edgy".

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price of ''

'' panned Akins' cover, saying that "Akins delivery doesn't have the zip and punch of Rabbitt's energetic version, and the production sounds like a watered-down version of the original."

Charts

References

Works cited *Bronson, Fred, ''The Billboard Book of Number One Hits'' 5th ed. Billboard Publications, New York, 2003. . *Roland, Tom, ''The Billboard Book of Number One Country Hits'', Billboard Books, Watson-Guptill Publications, New York, 1991 () *Whitburn, Joel, "Top Pop Singles: 1955-2006," 2007. {{authority control 1980 songs 1980 singles 1998 singles Eddie Rabbitt songs Rhett Akins songs Songs written by Eddie Rabbitt Songs written by David Malloy Song recordings produced by David Malloy Elektra Records singles Decca Records singles Songs written by Even Stevens (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Frank Liddell Song recordings produced by Greg Droman Songs about truck driving