Phantom 309
| "Phantom 309" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Red Sovine | |
| Released | 1967 (U.S.) |
| Format | 7" |
| Recorded | 1967 |
| Genre | Truck-driving country |
| Label | Starday Records |
| Writer(s) | Tommy Faile |
Phantom 309 is a song written by Tommy Faile and released as a single by Red Sovine in 1967.
Content [edit]
The song tells of a hitchhiker (the singer, in first person) trying to return home from the West Coast. On the third day of his trip, while at a crossroads in a driving rain, the hitchhiker is picked up by "Big Joe" driving his tractor-trailer named "Phantom 309". After driving through the night, Big Joe drops the hitchhiker off at a truck stop, gives him a dime for a cup of coffee, then disappears out of sight.
Once inside, the hitchhiker tells of Big Joe's generosity and the waiter tells him he had been the beneficiary of a "ghost driver." Ten years earlier, at the same intersection where he was picked up, Big Joe swerved to avoid hitting a school bus full of children. But he lost control of his truck and died in the wreck. The waiter tells the hiker that he wasn't the first; the ghost of Big Joe had been known to pick up other hitchhikers over the years.
Tom Waits version [edit]
The song was later recorded by Tom Waits with slightly different lyrics. This version was covered by Archers of Loaf on 1995's Step Right Up: The Songs of Tom Waits.
Other covers [edit]
Other artists who have recorded "Phantom 309" include Dave Dudley, Del Reeves, Ferlin Husky, and Boxcar Willie.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
