Darius Rucker’s “Wagon Wheel” Lyrics Meaning

The way Darius Rucker’s “Wagon Wheel” plays out is as so. Its subject, the singer, is traveling southward, down the East Coast of the United States to meet up with his girlfriend. But there is more to the story than that.

First is that he appears to be hitchhiking. And the reason for such is that he is in fact broke. This came about via him losing all of his dough “playing poker”. In fact he implies that at least one of the reasons he is so desperate to meet up with his lady is him having to leave his home as a result of this occurrence. So it can be even furthered imagined that perhaps he racked up a debt while gambling that he couldn’t pay off and left the area to flee from his creditors.

And since he is in fact the hard way down, we are given insights to some of the details of his struggle. For instance, at times he finds himself abandoned on the road, looking for a kind stranger to pick him up. He also references that he is “running from the cold up in New England”. So another reason he is trying to make it to Raleigh, North Carolina besides meeting up with his lady would be because the winters tend to be more agreeable down south.  Indeed it could be said that he’s looking forward to starting a whole new life in Raleigh. In fact interesting to note is that Ketch Secor, the teenager (at the time) who actually wrote the verses of this song, did so while he was “flunking math” and basically daydreaming about escaping from school.

Narrator’s Primary Objective

But as is clearly illustrated by the chorus, what he is looking forward to most is being ‘rocked’ by his “mama”. Now we can tell you that in this case “mama” would be a colloquialism for his girlfriend.  And with that in mind, we don’t feel a need to expound on what he means in terms of being ‘rocked’.  Indeed the title of this song is actually a metaphor for how the narrator wants to bump and grind, shall we say, with his lover like a “wagon wheel” on the road.

So basically, the way this song is structured is that the chorus centers primarily on why the singer wants to meet up with his lover. Meanwhile the verses mention some of the details concerning the journey it takes in order for him to reach her.

Writing Credits for “Wagon Wheel”

The chorus of this track was written and recorded by Bob Dylan way back in 1973. It was conceptualized to be part of the soundtrack to “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” (1973). It was never officially released but did come out as a bootleg entitled “Rock Me, Mama”.

The rest of the track was written some 25 years later by a musician named Ketch Secor. He and his band, Old Crow Medicine Show, were actually the first ones to record “Wagon Wheel” and release it in 2004. It went on to become the group’s signature tune, being certified Platinum in the United States.

Darius Rucker’s Version

Meanwhile Darius Rucker, of Hootie & the Blowfish fame, dropped his own cover of “Wagon Wheel”, via Capitol Records Nashville, on 7 January 2013. It is featured on his fourth solo album, which is entitled “True Believers”.

Whereas Rucker had been familiar with “Wagon Wheel” for a minute, it never appealed to him to cover the tune until he heard a band comprised of faculty members from this daughter’s high school play a country rendition of the song.

A Huge Success

“Wagon Wheel” proved to be a bigger success for Darius Rucker than it did for Old Crow Medicine Show. For instance, it was nominated for a CMA Award and won a Grammy Award in 2014 in the category of Best Country Solo Performance. And in terms of the latter, Rucker holds the distinction of being only the second African-American to win a Grammy for vocals in a country-music song. (The first was Charley Pride, who did so in 1972).

Moreover “Wagon Wheel” topped Billboard’s Canada Country chart as well as its Country Airplay and Hot Country Songs listings in the United States. It also peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 itself.

Even more astoundingly is that, as of early 2020, “Wagon Wheel” has been certified eight-times Platinum by the RIAA. The feat was so amazing that even Rucker himself was amazed. And it now holds the distinction of being one of the best-selling country songs in American history.

And just to note, “Wagon Wheel” has also been certified triple-platinum in Canada.

Music Video for “Wagon Wheel”

Lee Tucker directed the music video to “Wagon Wheel”.  It featured the cast of the reality television show “Duck Dynasty” as well as one member of Lady Antebellum, Charles Kelley.

Meanwhile the entirety of Lady Antebellum (Dave Haywood, Charles Kelly and Hillary Scott), amongst others, provided backup vocals to the song.