Taylor Hicks~~and a guitar in a 'vette...

Does a guitar fit in a Corvette?

Taylor Hicks cruising a hillside in California and singing “Seven Mile Breakdown” didn’t look like he’d ever been down on the wrong side of Mississippi.

We can’t go on without a second, and closer, look at “Seven Mile Breakdown” by Taylor Hicks and Spence Nicholson.

First, I had to do the research.

I don’t mean research Ojai where the video was shot. (I’ve been there, and it is surrounded by some of the most beautiful country in the world, in my opinion. And the Mississippi delta country is beautiful and intriguing even when it shakes its finger at you.)

I don’t mean research the history and mystique of the Corvette with the fuzzy dashboard cover. (I had a date in one of those once without the fuzzy dashboard. It was also red and white, and I did get the call back, but I passed on that one, even the car. I’m not that into cars, anyway.)

And I don’t mean research the flora and fauna of the fields through which the three young pretties ran. (Someone told me it was wheat, and I said that I didn’t think they grew wheat in Ojai, but I hadn’t been there for a long time. I said I thought it was dry grass, but I’m also not into grass.)

What I really needed to research were those close-ups of Taylor with crows feet and lip sincing his own music. (Is it wrong if you lip sinc your own music?

So, for my research, I had to watch the video over and over. (I know…it’s rough, but someone is smart enough to do it.)

Did you know that crow’s feet could be so delightfully charming and expressive! The side view…just like I was riding in the passenger’s (dreamer’s) seat, was enchanting! When he has the kind of crow’s feet that the rest of us have, he won’t suffer.

The same someone who said the girls were running through wheat, said the views of Taylor in the rearview mirror were the best in the video. (She also said she was watching this through her rear view mirror. Dreamer!) They were great shots—a Taylor singing along with “how do you like me now” attitude!

The pretty young thing who wakes up like we wish we did, (but never did), has The Distance on her bureau, a green rubber ducky, makes lemonade the old-fashioned way, and gets mail from a real mailbox. (And will never have crow’s feet.)

Was that Destiny driving by the mailbox? This “head turning glance going by” is the reason for making convertibles. That didn’t take much research. (And this is my favorite shot in the video. Taylor really should watch the road, though. Maybe he’s gotten too used to having drivers.)

More fun things I saw in my extensive research:

Taylor got to drive! Didn’t he say he wanted to? (There’s something about a man and his Corvette.)

There’s a new “glory note,” or “one to watch for note”: “lose” my mind. Can someone tell me what that is called with the voice? (Whatever it is, it’s fun and puts the country in country rock.)

Seismic energy can come from a country rock singer and his guitar. (There’s something about a man and his guitar. But he’s got too many. The harmonicas would fit in the ‘vette.)

Singing in a field brings out the country in all of us. (The same wheat, rear view mirror Dreamer said there’s nothing more country than singing in a field. Okay…she was right this time.)

So, I won’t regret that I once decided to pass on a car like that.

Just look where I am now…looking at a car like that cruising the California hills driven by a blue-eyed, soulful country rock star! (I know his eyes are brown. I researched that too.)

Sometimes you just know you made the right decision!

But I still have a lot of research to do…

Thanks to Cath for some of the inspiration for this piece. Thanks to Taylor Hicks and Spence Nicholson for the rest of the inspiration!