The Jersey Turnpike -- Classic blacktop!**

In contemporary poetry and music, the New Jersey Turnpike has been reflective of its times. In the 1950's, the Turnpike represented the efficiency and freedom brought by fast automobiles. These feelings were depicted in the Chuck Berry song "You Can't Catch Me," in which the singer decides to take his new Cadillac out for a ride on the New Jersey Turnpike. In the 1960's and 1970's, sentiment toward the turnpike turned negative, as the turnpike was represented as the spoiler of the environment and the cause of national malaise. This was best described in the line, "counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike, and they've all gone to look for America," written by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. By the 1980's, there was a coming to terms with the turnpike, as evidenced by songs written by Bruce Springsteen that have a nightmarish, survivalist vision of life in New Jersey. When the NJT was featured in the opening credits of the HBO hit series, 'The Sopranos,' the legend continued.



Read more �