Chuck Berry is finally 'motorvating' home

Dubai - He sang about what kids of the 1950s wanted - cars, love, and rock 'n' roll.

Despite being born in the early '90s, the music of that time didn't quite catch on to me. I remember back in school, my classmates would talk about (there was no portable music back then) Cry or Only Hope by Mandy Moore. While there I was in a corner singing songs my grandfather taught me. One of the many artists he introduced me to was Chuck Berry and his 'twangy' guitar playing.

Of course, one doesn't pay tribute to Chuck without citing his most popular song - Johnny B. Goode. This iconic hit is closely associated to Michael J. Fox's cover of the song in the film Back to The Future. One of the lines in the film referred to the song as the 'new sound' and indeed it was. Johnny B. Goode gave birth to a generation of rockers, boppers, greasers itching to 'wildly' shake a leg on the dance floor. But 'Goode is in no way a dance song for me, it's a song where you can just freely express yourself and let Chuck's guitar tickle your bones.

But Chuck wasn't just known for Johnny B. Goode, he followed trends and kept up with what was popular at the time. He sang about what kids of the 1950s wanted - cars, love, and rock 'n' roll.

In Nadine for example, he poetically illustrates the grip of love at first sight: "As I got on the city bus and found a vacant seat, I thought I saw my future bride walking up the street."

The Boss, Bruce Springsteen himself commented on Chuck's poetic lines: " 'I saw her on the corner, then she turned and doubled back/ Started walking to a coffee-colored Cadillac' ... I've never seen a coffee-coloured Cadillac, but I know exactly what one looks like!" But for me, Chuck really shines in songs where he just talks about cruising - the fine art of aimlessly driving around with no destination in mind.  It's epitomised in his many of his songs such as No Particular Place to Go, No Money Down, My Mustang Ford and his take on Nat King Cole's Route 66.

The idea of cruising could easily be shunned in this day and age because of economic/practical reasons, but Chuck was advocating something - to forget the problems and just enjoy life (behind the wheel for the matter). So, wherever Chuck may be, here is a 23-year old fan hoping that he's "Riding along in my automobile/My baby beside me at the wheel/I stole a kiss at the turn of a mile/My curiosity runnin' wild/Cruisin' and playin' the radio/With no particular place to go."