King of the Road – On the Rocks

Cahoots: Marabeth Hobgood (modulate)

Roger Miller – Key of G (mod to A)

Roger Miller explains that he wrote this song over a 6-week span, beginning on a 1964 Midwest TV tour. He wrote the first verse when he saw a “Trailers for Sale or Rent” sign on the road outside Chicago. A few weeks later, he bought a statuette of a hobo in Boise, Idaho airport gift shop and stared at it until he had completed the song.
Miller has given at least one other explanation for how he came up with the song, however. When he was the co-host on the Mike Douglas Show August 11, 1969, he revealed that the idea for “King Of The Road” came when he was driving in Indiana and saw a sign offering trailers for sale or rent, and it stuck in his mind. Said Miller, “I was doing a show in a place you have probably never heard of called Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, and I saw a statue of a hobo in a cigar shop were I was staying. I purchased it and took it to my room and wrote the song.”
So we know there was a sign and a hobo statue, but where they came from is unclear. Miller would sometimes introduce the song by saying, “Here’s a song I wrote on a rainy night in Boise, Idaho” which is much more identifiable for American listeners (especially in Nashville) than Kitchener, Ontario. Miller’s widow says that she’s not sure, and the Kitchener story could very well be true.

1 / 4 / 5 song with modulation

REMIND BILL ABOUT ACAPELLA ENDING

[MAIN CHORUS] [G] Trailers for [C] sale or rent. [D] Rooms to left [G] fifty cents. [G] No phone no [C] pool no pets [D] I ain’t got no cigarettes. Ah, but [G] two hours of [C] pushing broom, buys an [D] eight by twelve [G] four-bit room. I’m a [G] man of [C] means by no means – [D] King of the [G] Road

[G] Third boxcar [C] midnight train [D] destination [G] Bangor Maine
[G] Old worn out [C] suit and shoes [D] I don’t pay no union dues
I smoke [G] old stogies [C] I have found [D] short but not too [G] big around. I’m a [G] man of [C] means by no means – [D] King of the [G] Road.

MODULATE TO A D E

I know [A] every engineer on [D] every train – [E] All of the children and [A] all of their names – And [A] every hand-out in [D] every town, and [E] every lock that ain’t locked when no one’s around.

REPEAT CHORUS – – – – – I sing, [A] Trailers for [D] sale or rent. [E] Rooms to left [A] fifty cents. [A] No phone no [D] pool no pets – [E] I ain’t got no cigarettes. Ah, but, [A] two hours of [D] pushin’ broom buys an [E] eight by twelve [A] four-bit room. I’m a [A] man of [D] means by no means – [E] King of the [A] Road.

TAP BUTTON TO SCROLL DOWN – SING ACAPELLA

ACAPELLA OR WITH BASS:
I sing, [A] Trailers for [D] sale or rent. [E] Rooms to left [A] fifty cents. [A] No phone no [D] pool no pets – [E] I ain’t got no cigarettes. Ah, but,

[OTHER MUSIC COMES IN]
[A] two hours of [D] pushin’ broom buys an [E] eight by twelve [A] four-bit room. I’m a [A] man of [D] means by no means – [E] King of the [A] Road.

I’m a [A] man of [D] means by no means – [E] King of the [A] Road.