I was 17 and laughing heartily at the Canyonero song as it blared on our family room TV in Richmond, IL. Season 9 of The Simpsons was great, but this was the something special. Then, defying all Simpsons tradition, Canyonero returned after the credits, pushing the 21st Century Fox logo off the screen! This post-credits call-back was an amazing payoff for an episode-long joke about gas-guzzling SUVs: You can’t stop Canyonero! Canyonero will CRUSH you! Unexplained fires be damned!! bahahah.
On my 1/2 block walk from my car to Karma Coffee today, I was thinking that maybe that callback, specifically, caused me to love musicals. I memorized the lyrics, and I’d sing them for my friends when they’d listen (with much appreciation to Lori, who suffered through countless hours of me singing “Canyonero” without complaining once – though she’d lovingly get me back with Season 11’s unforgettable “Tappa Tappa” gem).
I never paid attention to song lyrics prior to that moment with the exception of Megadeth’s Rust In Peace (the song), whose lyrics, for some reason, captivated 12-year-old Toby (“The warheads will all rust in peace! Tremble you weaklings, cower in fear. I am the ruler, land sea and air. Immense in my girth, erect I stand tall. I am a nuclear murderer – I am Polaris.”…I could go on but…ack!…). And make no mistake – “Canyonero” is a Musical number! Oh Canyonero!!! They should make a full-blown musical out of that car – maybe that’ll be my next project…