I'm trying to find out what the name of the poem is that is read during the most recent Chevy Tahoe commercial. It contains the line: "and nobody knows it but me." several times. Can anyone help?

VERY LIKELY it was written by the ad agency that developed commercial.

You MIGHT get an answer by contacting Chevrolet. There's contact info and an email link at

[www.chevrolet.com];

I too would be interested in the text of that poem to forward to a friend or two.
It is resonating...

It is not Robert Frost but it also was not written by the ad agency, I remember being read this poem as a child. If memory serves there are more lines in it than those in the commercial. If I find the info will let you know. (Perhaps my family member with a Master's Degree in English can assist!!!!

If anyone can give us a few more lines, we might find it - I assume the ad is on US TV etc, as I've not seen Chevy Tahoes advertised here in the UK, so can't watch it for myself to get the information.

I too have been searching for that poem. If anybody finds it could you write me also? Deb

I THINK the final line is:
"And *wherever you're going's wherever you are.
And nobody knows it but me."
*That's not a phrase from the past; it kind of originated
with a fairly recent Steven Wright comedy bit (I think).
So I'm guessing that it WAS written by some copywriter
"in the style of" Edgar Guest or Eugene Field.........
But I, too, want to find it!

my sister asked me to get on the internet and see if I could find out more on this poem.
more lines are "there's a place that I go when I want to roam" and "far far away and way way afar and nobody knows it but me."

I would like to locate this thing too.

I emailed Chevy and here's what they said:

"Dear Mr. Caiazzo,

Thank you for contacting the Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center.

We appreciate your interest in General Motors Advertisements. The name of the poem that you are seeking is titled "Nobody Knows It But Me". The poem is by Patrick O'Leary and the poem is narrated by the actor Mr. James Garner.

Please go to www.media.gm.com to inquire about downloading this commercial.

If you should need to contact us in the future, please e-mail us again or call our Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center at 800-222-1020. Customer Relationship Managers are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., Eastern Time."

Sincerely,

Shareea Graham
Customer Relationship Manager
Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center

STILL NOTHING EXISTS on the net that I can locate for the info they gave me. But it's a wonderful poem!

Perhaps this is the author:

[mywebpages.comcast.net] />
He has published poetry and novels.

Patsy

I hope you don't mind my joining this discussion, but I have the text of the poem. I contacted Chevrolet, and here is their response:


Thank you for contacting the Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center.

We appreciate your request for the new Chevrolet Tahoe commercial poem.
The poem was written by Patrick O'Leary and is listed below:

Nobody Knows It But Me

There's a place that I travel
When I want to roam
And nobody knows it but me.

The roads don't go there
And the signs stay home
And nobody knows it but me.

It's far far away
And way way afar
It's over the moon and the sea.

And wherever you're going
That's wherever you are
And nobody knows it but me.

Thank you for your interest in our Chevrolet Tahoe commercial.

If you should need to contact us in the future, please e-mail us again
or call our Chevrolet Customer Assistance Center at 800-222-1020.

jkj - Thank you so much for putting us all out of our misery. Those who've seen the commercial were keen to get the words of the poem and those of us who hadn't were desperate to know what we were missing! Poetry gets you like that, once you find a line or two that strikes a chord , hunting for the rest becomes an infectious disease.

Thanks again

Marian

Bless you, jkj!
I wrote Chevrolet, too, but never heard back. This one belongs in the "Commercial Hall of Fame" along with Coke's original "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing"! How nice to discover a car commercial with soul!

I had to say thank you. I did not expect to find the whole poem so quickly, it took less thank 5 minutes. I had just heard the poem again and was trying to catch all the verses while washing dishes. As was said wanting to know the whole thing becomes a quest. Thanks again to jkj.

Here's an interview with the author... yes, he's an author and poet... but he's been working for an ad agency supporting the Chevy account since the '70s.

So yes, it was written by some ad guy, but no, it was written by a "real" poet. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

[www.locusmag.com];

He sounds interesting: any friend of Philip K Dick is a friend of mine. And a poet, writing about hummingbirds - he could do worse than read D H Lawrence (again!) -

Humming-Bird

I can imagine, in some otherworld
Primeval-dumb, far back
In that most awful stillness, that only gasped and hummed,
Humming-birds raced down the avenues.
Before anything had a soul,
While life was a heave of matter, half inanimate,
This little bit chipped off in brilliance
And went whizzing through the slow, vast, succulent stems.
I believe there were no flowers then,
In the world where the humming-bird flashed ahead of creation.
I believe he pierced the slow vegetable veins with his long beak.
Probably he was big
As mosses, and little lizards, they say, were once big.
Probably he was a jabbing, terrifying monster.
We look at him through the wrong end of the telescope of Time,
Luckily for us.

Stephen

I also was on the track of this elusive poem, so I found this website and joined the phorum in searchof it. And, with your help, I found it!

My thanks to Marian-NYC. I emailed Chevrolet at the address he (She?) provided AND got a reply with the text of the poem, the author and the identity of the narrator (James Garner).

Thank you again!

We (collectively) rock!

I also would like to know the origin of the Chevy Tahoe poem.

Thanks to everyone for their help. It's wonderful to have such a resource!

Thank you god and JKJ for like someone earlier said, "Putting us out of our misery" that is a great poem and i too have been searching for the words for a week!!

Nobody Knows it But Me
By Patrick O'Leary (he works for the Advertising company hired by Chev.)
This was emailed to me compliments of The Chevy Corporation)

There's a place that I travel
When I want to roam,
And nobody knows it but me

The roads don't go there
And the signs stay home
And nobody knows it but me

It's far far away
And way way afar
It's over the moon and the sea

And wherever you're going
That's wherever you are
And nobody knows it but me

I am also looking for this song/poem. I have spent the last hour trying to find it on the web, and i have failed, so i am under the impression that it was written by GM. If anyone finds any more info, please let me know.

THanks,
Adam

I hope by now that Adam and Manuela have figured out that the author and source of the poem IS posted in this thread -- if not: just scroll up and you'll see it.

I finally saw that ad -- last night. (I watch very little TV. I live in Brooklyn, and since Sept 11, 2001, my reception has been really bad because the broadcast transmitters were on the WTC towers and I'm the Last American Without Cable.) I listened carefully because of all the discussion... and I sure enjoy James Garner's voice. I think that voice is the real attraction. The poem itself strikes me as a watering-down and podge-hodging of various poems and songs and such -- typical product of market research.

But you gotta admit -- it works!!!

What a great place I've found! What a neat bunch of people! Thank you for allowing my daughter and me not to go crazy finding the source of this poem. It IS a great poem and the author should find a bonus in his drawer when he goes to work- it seems to have caught a lot of attention. We will have this place bookmarked as it will be a good source in looking for poems. THANKS AGAIN!

Stick around. You will be amazed and amused.

>I'm the Last American Without Cable.)

You, too?

pam

Thanks so much for the text!!! That is all I was looking for!

Thanks to all of you. I've been searching for this for eons! Now that I know that James Garner was the narrator, it's icing on the cake!
Now, I need help with a poem my Dad said to us many years ago. I will put what I know under a new topic. Thanks again!glenda wrote:

Stick around. You will be amazed and amused.

With apologies to Mr. O’Leary …

NOBODY GETS IT BUT ME

There’s a poem that they’re using
That sounds kind of old
And nobody gets it but me.

They shot in some place
That looks mighty cold
And nobody gets it but me.

It’s way way too arty
And art art too weighty
Excuse me, but I’ve got to pee.

And whatever you’re hearing
That’s what they’re saying
And nobody gets it but me.

-- Larry O’Patrick

Please, please, please. I would like to have a copy of the poem from Chevy Tahoe commercial..

Linda,

It's in the threads. Try clicking on 'flat view' to see if that helps.

pam

A Google search, finally, will accomplish the same result. Thus saving us here countless more questions about this poem.

We wish!

pam

Chevy Tahoe

Nobody Knows it but me

There's a place that I travel
When I want to roam
And nobody knows it but me.

The roads don't go there
And the signs stay home
And nobody knows it but me.

It's far far away
And way way afar
It's over the moon and the sea.

And wherever you're going
that's wherever you are
And nobody knows it but me.

Thank you jkj so very much! I've had the first line of this poem in my head for the last two months...driving me crazy...now that I have the source and the entire text of the poem maybe I'll get some rest!

Well, we can have a happy new year knowing the words to this poem!!

I was another "Nobody knows it but me" hunter. I've enjoy all the rhetoric but I especially enjoyed the take off about "nobody gets it but me". It provided me a laugh...out loud...all by myself...this first day of the new year.
Thanks....DGB

Did you ever find out the answer to this? Marian-NYC wrote:

We (collectively) rock!

Did you ever find out the answer to this? Marian-NYC wrote:

We (collectively) rock!

What's the answer to this question.?

Patrick O’Leary
"Nobody Knows It But Me"
The poem in the Chevrolet Tahoe commercial is spoken by James Garner.
There's a place that I travel
When I want to roam,
And nobody knows it but me.
The roads don't go there
And the signs stay home,
And nobody knows it but me.
It's far far away
And way way afar,
It's over the moon and the sea,
And wherever you're going
that's wherever you are.
And nobody knows it but me
Patrick has his own website at
[mywebpages.comcast.net] /> And you can view (and listen to) the commercial by clicking on the waterfall at:
[www.filmimaging.com] />

Stephen

This poem is truly moving. However, as an english major I cannot escape the feeling that I've heard this poem before--years ago. I feel strongly that this is a poem that we have all heard before-perhaps with a few adjectives rearranged--maybe a poem by a little known author. While were all told to focus on the Frost's and Hemingway's, this indelible little gem left an impact that we are rediscovering. I can't help but think that is why a truck commercial poem is causing such a stir. Are there 30 messages in this site alone? Trust me, this poem is anything but original (despite its beauty). Keep searching! The truth is out there!!

Cinna, the poem was written by Patrick O'Leary an employee of GM. But you might want to look up the lyrics of a l950's song called
"Somewhere beyond the Sea". The melody is hauntingly familiar.

Les

Thanks Les, I'll give it a shot!

Les, I checked out the song you are speaking of by Bobby Darin, but this is not the one. There is a poem out there that is dead on, I swear!! My husband drives a chevy truck, no disloyalty intended, this poem has a mother!

Don't worry about it, I drive an Explorer myself.

Les

Find the poem interesting. Would like to know who wrote it and if there is anymore to it.

I am so glad to see so many interested in this poem. It is beautiful. Looking back over the list of questions, I found the title of the poem, "Nobody Knows it But Me", but Patrick O'Leary, who works for the advertising company hired by The Chevy Corporation. But the reason I was interested, I had a bet going with my husband about the narrator. He swore it was James Garner, I swore it was Charles Osgood. Sorry to say, he won! Beautiful poem! Look on Question by Manuela, dated 10-23-02 for the entire poem.

It is beautiful and wondrous. Reminds me of The Land of Nod by Robert Louis Stevenson. I wonder if the author was influenced by this?

My guess is, since he works for GM, that he was influenced by making money.

Les

I too believe I have heard this poem before, If you find out anything please post I am very interested.

click on FLAT VIEW please!

Hey Tericat, do you think that since so many people are looking for it, you might have had the decency to post what the poem is called and who the author is, or are you simply a selfish person?

AARGHL. This is really becoming nighmarish. Dear ChiChi. Will you please have the decency to click on every single message in this thread, all fifty something, and come back after that.

Or just click on "flat view"

if i had to read one more time "who wrote the poem & what are the words?" by the same ol' people, i was gonna have to go somewhere "that nobody knows it but me"!
thanks,jkj!!!

It's amazing how many people have heard this commercial and want the words to the poem. From having a relative in the advertising business, it will appear that the Tahoe will be a vehicle that will sell quite a bit.

And, thanks for everyone on this thread for finding the words and author of this really great poem/ad copy.

Shane

Linda Burr wrote:

I'm trying to find out what the name of the poem is
that is read during the most recent Chevy Tahoe commercial.
It contains the line: "and nobody knows it but me." several
times. Can anyone help?

go to holistichealthtools.com if link doesn't work try
search:poem for chevy tahoe on google
god luck

Author: Stephen Fryer (---.bbd03tcl.dsl.pol.co.uk)
Date: 01-05-03 02:37

Patrick O’Leary
------------------------
"Nobody Knows It But Me"
--------------------------------
Spoken by James Garner.
----------------------------------
There's a place that I travel
When I want to roam,
And nobody knows it but me.
The roads don't go there
And the signs stay home,
And nobody knows it but me.
It's far far away
And way way afar,
It's over the moon and the sea,
And wherever you're going
that's wherever you are.
And nobody knows it but me
----------------------------
Patrick has his own website at
[mywebpages.comcast.net] /> ----------------------------
And you can view (and listen to) the commercial by clicking on the waterfall at:
[www.filmimaging.com]#
Stephen

The poem in the Chevrolet Tahoe commercial is called "Nobody Knows It But Me" written by Patrick O'Leary with the voice-over by James Garner. The words of the poem are as follows:

There's a place that I travel
When I want to roam
And nobody knows it but me.

The roads don't go there
And the signs stay home
And nobody knows it but me.

It's far far away
And way way afar
It's over the moon and the sea
And whenever you're going
that's wherever you are
And nobody knows it but me.

this poem is a song, recorded in the early 90's I believe....sorry don't know the tiitle

Written by Dennis Lee : Believe it is called The Secret Place.

There's a pace I go, inside myself,
Where nobody else can be,
And none of my friends can tell it's there -
Nobody knows but me.

There's three other stanzas, but that is what I remember when I was young. Is that what you're thinking of?

I have a family member who teaches College level English and he didn't know... I am positive it is Dennis Lee : The Secret Place..

Dennis Lee : The Secret Place

There's a place I go, inside myself,Where nobody else can be,
And none of my friends can tell it's there -
Nobody knows but me.

It carries on for another three verses, but I am positive this influenced
the poem for this commercial, and I remember it as a child, although
I am also positive this child is older than you !!!

Dennis Lee


The Secret Place



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: The Ice Cream Store. Toronto: Harper Collins Publishers, 1991.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's a place I go, inside myself,
Where nobody else can be,
And none of my friends can tell it's there—
Nobody knows but me.


It's hard to explain the way it feels,
Or even where I go.
It isn't a place in time or space,
But once I'm there, I know.

It's tiny, it's shiny, it can't be seen,
But it's big as the sky at night . . .
I try to explain and it hurts my brain,
But once I'm there, it's right.

There's a place I know inside myself,
And it's neither big nor small,
And whenever I go, it feels as though
I never left at all.


Others have wondered -

[www.quotationspage.com] />

Stephen

[www.library.utoronto.ca] />
thats teh link to the other Poem that ppl seem to be remebering






"Disce quasi semper victurus; vive quasi cras moriturus"
-"Learn as if you were going to live forever; live as if you were going to die tomorrow"

no ChiChi, i'm not selfish, just absent minded. it's taken me MONTHS to get back to this site.

the poem was written by Patrick O'Leary and the full text is

There's a place that I travel when I want to roam
And nobody knows it but me


The roads don't go there and the signs stay home
And nobody knows it but me.

It's far far away and way way afar,
Over the moon and the sea.

And wherever you're going that's wherever you are
An nobody knows it but me.

it is narrated on the commercial by James Garner and was written by Patrick O'Leary for the
chevy ad agency in 2002.

I recently read an article in our newspaper that claimed a local man (Saginaw, Michigan) had written this poem. I'll have to dig through my recycling stack to see if I can given more details.

I located the article. It states that Patrick O'Leary, who was born in Saginaw, but who now lives in suburban Detroit, was asked to write a verse for a Chevy commercial. He says that he's "not an outdoorsy person," and that the poem "was a total fluke." He is 50 years old, and has also written 3 sci-fi books, one of which was named by Publisher's Weekly as a best book of l997.

And for further enlightenment, go here -

[www.emule.com] />

Stephen

here's what I found so far...


[www.digitalproducer.com] />
However, for all of its visual spectacle, the new ads stand above most car commercials thanks to the copy ­ poetic odes to a nature-lover's wandering spirit ­ written by Campbell Ewald copywriter Patrick O'Leary. In "Nobody," the voice-over from actor James Garner intones:

"There's a place I travel when I want to roam, and nobody knows it but me. The roads don't go there and the signs stay home, and nobody knows it but me. It's far, far away and way, way afar, it's over the moon and the sea, and wherever you're going that's wherever you are. And nobody knows it but me."

"It isn't often original poetry finds itself into advertising, especially a car campaign," says Saarinen. "This is one of those rare campaigns that possess a sense of integrity and dignity. The copy was inspired, and greatly influenced their magical and transitory feeling. We tried to mimic the words with Haiku like images."

You can read the author's post to eMule right here:

[www.emule.com];

I would like to have a copy of the Tahoe commercial read by James
Garner.Linda Burr wrote:

I'm trying to find out what the name of the poem is
that is read during the most recent Chevy Tahoe commercial.
It contains the line: "and nobody knows it but me." several
times. Can anyone help?

helen, go here -

[www.emule.com] />

Stephen

Darn. I had hopes that there was some controversy here.

pam

If it's controversy you seek, ask yourself - was Dennis Lee plagiarised - my post of 02-06?

Stephen

It may very well be a violation of his copyright, but not plagiarism, no.

I think A.A. Milne should have a claim- the rhythm certainly sounds like his work.

pam

Thank YOU so very much!!!!!!!!

You've made my wife a very happy person!

P.S.
is that the entire poem?

The poem from the commercial Chevrolet dubbed "Nobody" is called "Nobody Knows it But Me":

There's a place that I travel
When I want to roam
And nobody knows it but me

The roads don't go there
And the signs stay home
And nobody knows it but me

It far far away and way way afar
It's over the moon and the sea
And wherever you're going
That's wherever you are
And nobody knows it but me

The second commercial was called "Everywhere" by Chevrolet and its poem is called "Far Off the Track":

If you're heading out there
I'll give you a tip
It's wild and it's far
And you're in for a trip
For just when you think
It couldn't get rougher
The path goes crooked
And the going gets tougher
But once you've traveled
This far off the track
You won't settle for less
And there's no going back.

Both poems were written by Patrick O'Leary.

The poem from the commercial Chevrolet dubbed "Nobody" is called "Nobody Knows it But Me":

There's a place that I travel
When I want to roam
And nobody knows it but me

The roads don't go there
And the signs stay home
And nobody knows it but me

It far far away and way way afar
It's over the moon and the sea
And wherever you're going
That's wherever you are
And nobody knows it but me

The second commercial was called "Everywhere" by Chevrolet and its poem is called "Far Off the Track":

If you're heading out there
I'll give you a tip
It's wild and it's far
And you're in for a trip
For just when you think
It couldn't get rougher
The path goes crooked
And the going gets tougher
But once you've traveled
This far off the track
You won't settle for less
And there's no going back.

Both poems were written by Patrick O'Leary.

Does anyone out there know the words to this poem??

Still think "Flat view" should be changed into red-coloured bold letters saying: "all messages" or something.

Dear Sue, please click on "flat view" and read all of the above. It is out there.

zoom zoom

Will this thread never go away???? (Fortunately, the commercial has).

JoeT

Some things are made to last forever....