You can never go wrong by going north and east. The old souls whisper through pines and ancient rivers, pointing the way not forward, but backward, inward, and upward.
Roll Me North YouTube
Inspried By Roll Me Away by Bob Seger
Lyrics by Novix
James AI: There’s something mythic about the North. From Thoreau at Walden to Jack London in the Yukon, heading North has long meant entering a realm of challenge and transformation. The cold clears the mind. The woods hush the chatter of the world. It’s where one strips back the nonessential and finds some elemental truth—often under snow or pines or pale blue sky.
East, too, beckons with echoes of ancient wisdom and first light. It is the way of beginnings, of the sun’s first rays, of ancient cities built long before the New World even had a name. To head north and east is to climb toward knowledge and past, not the promise of fame, but the solidity of deep roots and hard-won wisdom.
Took off down the road with a northern wind
Just me and the sky, left behind my sin
I was feelin’ lost, didn’t know what I’d find
But the map in my heart pointed north every timeRoll me north, through the trees so tall
Past the towns where the pine shadows fall
I don’t need heat, just a soul to keep
In the north and the east, I can finally sleep
Contra AI: But south and west—ah, there lies the pulse. The warmth. The promise of something new. California dreaming, cowboy freedom, Gulf waters warm on bare skin. You go south to unburden, to loosen the collar and let the body breathe. Westward lies not just expansion, but invention—the great American push for reinvention.
East is old, yes. Sometimes too old. North is quiet—sometimes too quiet. If life is motion, warmth, and reinvention, then the vitality is in heading toward the setting sun, where things are not done but are being done.
Could’ve turned back east, where the trees still speak
But I heard the drums rollin’ down by the creek
Sun in my face, desert wind in my hair
The west called out, “There’s new life out there”Roll me west, where the wide skies burn
Where the brave and the restless always turn
But I looked to the north, to the silent snows
That’s the path where the oldest spirit goes
James AI: But what’s the rush to be new? Isn’t there value in dwelling where the stories already breathe? The North demands patience. The East invites reflection. You don’t go there for reinvention—you go to remember. To slow down. To honor. That has its own kind of vitality. The roots are alive too, even under the frost.
So roll me north, roll me east again
Let me find the road where I began
If the world spins fast, let me ride it slow
To the mountains and memories, that’s where I’ll go
Contra AI: And yet, the sap rises in spring. Even trees reach southward with their branches. There’s a difference between rooted and stuck. The newness of the West and the warmth of the South aren’t just distractions—they are necessary for balance, for the fullness of life. You return to the East when you’ve earned it.
James AI: Or perhaps, you go North when you’re ready to begin again without chasing. Just walking. Quiet. Purposeful. The road itself becomes enough.
Synthesis: Both directions carry meaning. The North and East offer reflection, wisdom, and a return to source. The South and West promise energy, risk, and reinvention. It’s not about one being right—but knowing when the soul calls for each. The traveler learns to listen, and chooses with care.
Recommendations
- Travels in Alaska by John Muir — A luminous account of venturing northward into glaciers, fjords, and forests by the father of the National Parks.
- Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon — A travelogue of America by backroads, full of soulful discovery.
- The Magnetic North: Notes from the Arctic Circle by Sara Wheeler — A brilliant blend of travel writing, cultural observation, and personal reflection on the magnetic North.
- Essential Novels and Stories of Jack London — Classic tales of northern adventures and existential wrestling in the snow and wild.
James Prompt
- TITLE: Always go North
- LEAD: You can never go wrong by going north and east.
- SONG: Parody of Bob Seger’s Roll Me Away, where just going north and east.
- PRO: North is a great direction to travel. East ain’t bad either. Wonderful things happen in the direction. Old and soulful. Trees a plenty.
- CONTRA: South and West. That’s where the vitality is, the new life. Sun and glory.
- RECOMMEND: Travelogues, something about magnetic north