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"King of the Road" is a 1964 song written and originally recorded by country singer Roger Miller.〔 The lyrics tell of the day-to-day life of a vagabond hobo who despite being poor (a "man of means by no means") revels in his freedom, describing himself humorously as the "king of the road". It was Miller's fifth single for Smash Records.〔 〕 ==History== The popular crossover record hit No. 1 on the US Country chart, and No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and No. 1 on the Easy Listening surveys. It was also No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart, and in Norway. Miller recalled that the song started when he was driving and saw a sign on the side of a barn that said "trailers for sale or rent". The song has been covered by many other artists, including George Jones, Dean Martin, Jack Jones, James Booker, The Fabulous Echoes, Boney M., R.E.M. (a shambolic, drunken offhand cover about which guitarist Peter Buck later commented, "If there was any justice in the world, Roger Miller should be able to sue for what we did to this song."), Johnny Paycheck, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Boxcar Willie, Randy Travis, Rangers, James Kilbane, John Stevens, the Statler Brothers, Rufus Wainwright & Teddy Thompson, Giant Sand, Peligro, The Proclaimers, Ray Conniff Singers and The Reverend Horton Heat, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Joe Strummer during live performances. James "The King" Brown (an Elvis impersonator) performed the song for a 2001 Audi commercial on German TV. The song is featured in Wim Wenders' 1976 film ''Im Lauf der Zeit'' (''In the Course of Time''; English title ''Kings of the Road''). It is also played at the beginning of ''Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'', ''Brokeback Mountain'', ''Into the Wild'', ''Traveller'' and in ''Swingers''. Miller performs it in the concert film ''The Big T.N.T. Show''. The recording by The Proclaimers is included in the film ''The Crossing'' (1990). Near the end of their official music video, the pair are shown reading a newspaper whose headline is "Roger Miller, King of Plugs". After the major success achieved by "King of the Road", Dean Martin recorded the 1965 tune "Houston", which is similar in both lyrics and feel. A send-up version by English entertainer Billy Howard was a British chart hit in 1976. A German version by the band Wise Guys exists. In both the English and German versions of ''Animals United'', Billy the Meerkat sings the short rendition of this song walking past the other animals while carrying the gourd. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「King of the Road (song)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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