Ten Favorite Blues Brothers Lines: We’re Wearing Sunglasses (#5)

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I’m enjoying some rest after the hectic evening of running the vacuum cleaner. Way back when it wasn’t a chore, but being over 50 (way over 50), asthmatic, and having a bad back, it’s a chore now. By the time I recover I’ll have to vacuum again! Oh, well, I’ll recover with that classic film The Blues Brothers, as I count down my favorite lines from the movie. Here’s the next one. #5: It’s 106 Miles to Chicago. We Got a Full Tank of Gas, Half a Pack of Cigarettes, It’s Dark, and We’re Wearing Sunglasses. Hit it! This is one of the funniest lines in the entire movie. What makes it so hilarious is that, as a line, it’s almost like a bad soap opera plot summary (“When we last saw Bob, he was confronting Mary about her pregnancy” kind of thing). However, instead of a voiceover, Elwood says it...and provides additional commentary on the absurdity of them wearing sunglasses at night (Corey Hart, you owe these guys some big time royalties). The band has raised the money needed to save the orphanage. Now all Jake and Elwood have to do is escape the room full of cops, National Guardsmen, neo-Nazis, angry country musicians, and everyone else they’ve pissed off in the process. Oh, and Jake’s old girlfriend (brilliantly played by the late Carrie Fisher), they have to get away from her and her machine gun as well. Having eluded everyone (and escaped the Mystery Woman [the best running gag in the film, it’s so Road Runner and Coyote cartoonish!]), they’re on their way to pay the tax assessment. As they start the car, Elwood utters this line, summing up the situation. Jake can only add two words: “Hit it!” This is one of those lines that most people know and quote from the film. There’s a good reason for that. It’s 106 Miles to Chicago. We Got a Full Tank of Gas, Half a Pack of Cigarettes, It’s Dark, and We’re Wearing Sunglasses — Elwood Blues (Dan Aykroyd) Hit It! — Jake Blues (John Belushi) Hit it!