Driving Wheel?

A silly question...

As fan of decent music such as Foghat's 'Driving Wheel' and Tom Rush's song of the same name, they often mention a 'driving' wheel. There's also a song I haven't heard by Robert Sykes called 'driving wheel'.

In UK parlance that's usually the powered wheels of a locomotive, but in American songs it's always referred to in the singular.

I know Foghat are an English band, but their songs have a strong American influence...

So can our American friends tell me - in the USA, is a 'driving wheel' a 'steering wheel' or is it one of the powered wheels?

Neil

Seems there are a few more songs you need to listen to Neil

Neil,

I expect you have already looked at this : **LINK**

Regards

Lofty

These are just songs, not technical works. I always assumed the words are bent to fit to fit the tune/ scansion.

Might well be an allusion to 'wheel' as in to flirt, a measure of sexual success. Like trains entering tunnels, fireworks and popping champagne bottles on screen, engines (especially steam engines) are a metaphor for intercourse.

Being a respectable electrical engineer with a literal mind my dad was oblivious to double meanings. He thought the lyrics of South of the border, down Mexico way were completely innocent. And that Melanie's 'Brand New-key" is a little girl singing about roller skates.

Look closely and you'll find that many - perhaps most - songs are actually about sex. Symbolism, metaphor and tropes aren't a new thing - there was an incident involving Eve, an Apple and the Serpent.

Wheelin' and dealin'

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 16/03/2018 11:24:26

Wheel of fortune ? Colin

Hmm, still not an answer. Wikipedia's driving wheels are generally plural...

Dave - I'm sure Jelly Roll Morton was famed for his love of swiss rolls.... :-0

Neil

Having checked out the Foghat and Rush lyrics it's amusing to find they're about opposite ends of the rock and role lifestyle. Foghat's song celebrates a prolonged athletic success whilst poor Mr Rush bewails losing his bedroom mojo with 'My car broke down in Texas she stopped dead in her tracks'.

I'm starting to worry about the real meaning of 'God save the queen'...

Meanwhile it gets worse. Consider the US National Anthem:

Just a bit worse than ours:

Lord, grant that Marshal Wade,
May by thy mighty aid,
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
and like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush,
God save the King.

Driving wheel is the steering wheel, as in the USB attachment for driving video games, as is the joystick for flight simulators. Alternatively, in the Junior Parker song, it is the provider of power, as it is in a motor cycle, or early go-karts, where only one wheel was powered.

And the sexual stuff, too.

Geoff

A "Driving Wheel" is obviously one of these:-

John

Linl: Scale Model News

Edited By Journeyman on 16/03/2018 18:16:49