Comments on: Highway to Hell

Question: Highway to Hell

markovich — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:13:38 -0800

I want to make a play list of songs that have a reference to a US highway somewhere in the lyrics. Which songs do you know that have this?

For example, the song Mississippi Moon by John Anderson has the lyric:

Goin on back to the delta
I'm tired of searching for the answers
Always out there on the run
I'm goin back to where my heart is...
Down on Highway 61

And as a small addendum, what is the significance of picking the particular highway for each song?

By: txsebastien

txsebastien — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:18:48 -0800

Get your kicks on Route 66

By: Martin E.

Martin E. — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:20:10 -0800

Highway 29 by Bruce Springsteen

By: legotech

legotech — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:21:00 -0800

The obvious one is Get your kicks on Route 66

By: Martin E.

Martin E. — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:27:16 -0800

Here is one list. Click the title to see relevant lyrics (ie is it a specific highway or simply 'the road').

Here is another. Some are specific highways, some generally the road but there's a slew with a specific highway in the title.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:36:43 -0800

Springsteen's State Trooper from Nebraska is the first one that comes to mind (mentions the New Jersey Turnpike). I think others on that album may, as well, but I can't bring specific lyrics to mind at the moment.

By: web-goddess

web-goddess — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:38:01 -0800

The Breeders have a song called "Drivin' on 9".

By: The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:41:45 -0800

California by Phantom Planet

By: Kwantsar

Kwantsar — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:45:32 -0800

405, by Death Cab for Cutie

By: dawson

dawson — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:47:21 -0800

Highway 40 Blues by Ricky Skaggs,

The highway called when I was young,
Told me lies of things to come.
Fame and fortune lies ahead!
That's what the billboard lights had said.
Shattered dreams, my mind is numb,
My money's gone, stick out my thumb.
My eyes are filled with bitter tears,
Lord, I ain't been home in years.
Got the Highway Forty blues.

South of I-10 by Sonny Landreth

I woke up in Mississippi in '51
Migrated next door became a native stepson
Grew up on the rhythm of Clifton and Cleveland
And the Red Hot Louisiana Band

Rocking my baby through the Seventies roll
In '81 I counted thirty years old
Turning me loose and yet holding me close
Life was a waltz that wouldn't let go

Allons danser, Allons danser
Come on let's dance, come on let's dance
South of I-10 we really had it made

Highway 101 by Social Distortion

By: markovich

markovich — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:47:29 -0800

To be somewhat more specific, I'd like songs that include the lyrics "highway x" or "route x" where x is a number. I.e, not just talking about roads or turnpikes in general, etc. And it does not have to be in the title, more in the lyrics of the song.

By: Roman Graves

Roman Graves — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:49:51 -0800

Highway 101 by Social Distortion (about California life)
Readin', Rightin', Route 23 by Dwight Yoakam (about miners escaping to the north for better work)

By: Good Brain

Good Brain — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:54:05 -0800

The Other Shoe, The Old 97's, I-35
Die By What You Live By, Harvey Danger, Highway 99

By: nathan_teske

nathan_teske — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:55:15 -0800

Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisted

By: pupdog

pupdog — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:57:02 -0800

The Allman Brothers 'Ramblin' Man' has the great line "And I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus, Rollin' down highway 41."

Highway 41 shows up quite a bit actually:

Chalee Tennison's 'Go Back' starts with "She was waiting tables in a diner off of highway 41"

Alan Jackson had 'I Don't Even Know Your Name', that starts with "Well, I was sitting in a roadhouse down on Highway 41"

Travis Tritt's 'Hard Times And Misery' - "Another day on Highway 41, It's a long black snake that runs to the sun"

Brak (from Space Ghost) had a song on one album (with Freddie Prinze Jr., of all people) that features the lyric "I'm driving down highway 40 in my big ol' pickup truck!". Actually, that's the only lyric...

Then there's always "Ventura Highway" by America, but that's not an 'official' hoghway name I think.

By: Asherah

Asherah — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:00:26 -0800

61 Highway Blues, Mississippi Fred McDowell

By: Roman Graves

Roman Graves — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:01:59 -0800

Oh, and "72 (This Highway's Mean)" by the Drive-By Truckers.

By: illek

illek — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:02:50 -0800

It doesn't say "highway" or "route", but does give the numbers: Carrie Underwood - I Ain't In Checotah Anymore

By: pupdog

pupdog — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:03:33 -0800

Kim Ferron's 'Nothing But You' has:

I think i'll go for a ride
Til my memory fades
Roll down the windows and glide
Down 75 to the Everglades

By: otolith

otolith — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:08:35 -0800

A Sorta Fairytale by Tori Amos is about driving up the west coast on Highway 101, which she names in the song.

By: fings

fings — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:10:16 -0800

"America" by Simon and Garfunkel:

"Counting the cars on the New Jersey turnpike..."

By: InnocentBystander

InnocentBystander — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:12:03 -0800

There's a man standin' over a dead dog
down by the highway in a ditch
he's lookin' at it kind of puzzled
pokin' that dog with a stick
his car door's wide open
standing out on highway 31
like if he stood there long enough
that dog get up and run
struck me kind of funny
some kind of funny serenade
how at the end of every hard day
you can find some reason to believe

Bruce Springsteen, "Reason to Believe"

By: The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:19:14 -0800

also, "Interstate" by the Refreshments is about route 95, and mentions it by name in the song as "95 from Boise"

and to clarify, California mentions "Driving down the 101," as in US 101, which seems to be a popular subject from the looks of it.

By: djb

djb — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:30:24 -0800

Yet another Springsteen: Born to Run ("sprung from cages on highway 9")

By: mykescipark

mykescipark — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:31:35 -0800

I'd second the FHA list. It had pretty much every song I was going to mention - it even has the Wedding Present!

By: illek

illek — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:34:07 -0800

James Taylor - Enough To Be On Your Way
Highway 591

By: wemayfreeze

wemayfreeze — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:34:19 -0800

The Mountain Goats - Jeff Davis County Blues
i have no place to go, so i drive up to new mexico.
fix my eyes in the rearview when i cross the state line.
and i panic, i guess. and although it's quite late,
i take the first exit to 128.
i am coming back to Midland.
i hope you won't mind.
polaroids of the two of us scattered on the passenger's seat.
i drive slowly
and evenly
and i dream about home.

The Mountain Goats - Wild Sage
I leave the house as soon as it gets light outside
like a prisoner breaking out of jail.
and I steal down to business 15-501
like I had a bounty hunter on my tail.
and somebody stops to pick me up,
but he drops me off just down the block.
and along the highway where the empty sprits breathed,
wild sage growing in the weeds.

The Mountain Goats - 15-1
if I had a car and you were riding in it
I'd show you what my car could do
I head east down highway fifteen and see the starlight
shower over you
gas fumes rising from the blacktop
cheap hotels with flashing signs
just an old sweet song made new
and oozing through the pines

There are probably more, but Jesus, that guy has too many songs.

By: wemayfreeze

wemayfreeze — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:35:05 -0800

The significance is that he tells stories about places?

By: wemayfreeze

wemayfreeze — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:40:41 -0800

Sorry, two more:

The Mountain Goats - Short Song about the 10 Freeway (not in the lyrics, but it's the subject of the song?)

The Mountain Goats - Going to Chino
I'd like to say hello
to all our friends from chino.
to the people from chino, hello.
I'd like to say hello
to all our friends from chino.
to the people from chino, hello.

convenient access to the 60 freeway.
accredited medical care, down at chino valley hospital.
a unified school system, the likes of which you won't find elsewhere.
and friendly people.

By: jvilter

jvilter — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:08:23 -0800

Amarillo Highway by Terry Allan. "As close as I'll ever get to heaven is makin' speed up old 87, that hard Amarillo Highway"

By: clearly

clearly — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:11:29 -0800

The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner references Route 128

By: chudmonkey

chudmonkey — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:18:56 -0800

Tweeter and the Monkey Man by The Traveling Wilburys contains the following verse:

Tweeter was a boy scout cause he went to Vietnam
And found out the hard way, nobody gives a damn
They knew that they found freedom just across the Jersey line
So they hopped into a stolen car, took Highway 99

By: Blandanomics

Blandanomics — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:20:48 -0800

There is always "Goin' back to Memphis" by the Soledad brothers. The song was also covered by The White Stripes in their DVD "Under Blackpool Lights"

By: Opposite George

Opposite George — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:21:37 -0800

Just go here and browse through the lyrics. You'll find more highways, imaginary and real, than you know what to do with.

The significance? Um, El Jefe has a hard-on for roads? Seriously, I'm sure folks have written dissertations on this but factors include the New Jersey car culture and the highway as symbol for escape and the journey of life.

God, I'm awful with lyrics, and far from a leading Springsteenologist, but here's a couple I haven't seen anybody mention yet:

"Open All Night" references the "Route 60 Bob's Big Boy." He might've made that one up, as there's no NJ 60 and US 60 is a bit too far south, I think. (It runs east and west starting in Virginia Beach. True, he's driving all night to get to his baby but even if it's technically within overnight driving distance that would be one hell of a commute.)

"Spirit In the Night": "It's about a mile down on the dark side of Route 88." No doubt NJ 88.

Extra Credit: "New York City Serenade" mentions Broadw.ay several times. Broadway in Manhattan is also U.S. Route 9.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:32:20 -0800

I thought this was too obvious to miss, but here I am waaaay down the page mentioning:

Pacific Coast Highway, Mamas & The Papas.

PCH was also mentioned more recently in the Ataris "Summer of 79", and while I can't think of any examples offhand, it must be in many Beach Boys songs.

By: wsg

wsg — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:33:56 -0800

Highway 40 Blues by Ricky Skaggs

By: Opposite George

Opposite George — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:35:07 -0800

Also, if you can put up with the somewhat-coherent ramblings of semi-autistic road idiot-savants*, there's this Usenet thread.

----
*Or, as I like to refer to them, "my people."

By: Opposite George

Opposite George — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:42:46 -0800

Bill Safire just called: Apparently it's "idiots savants."

Two Whoppers Junior, please.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 00:54:34 -0800

One of the funniest songs I've ever heard about LA is "Too Long in LA" by Bob Dorough (who wrote a lot of the old Schoolhouse Rock tunes), and one lyric is: "Just got off the 405. Lucky I got out alive." I think you can find it on itunes.

Other West coast highway inspired songs...
405 -- Death Cab for Cutie
Road Trippin' -- Red Hot Chili Peppers (mentions Highway 1)
King's Highway -- Tom Petty (King's Highway is another name for El Camino Real in California)
Diamonds on my Windshield -- Tom Waits
Highway 66 Blues -- Woody Guthrie
Interstate 5 -- The Wedding Present
Highway 101 -- Social Distortion
Highway 5 -- American Music Club
Highway One -- The Waifs
Feedback out on Highway 101 -- Van Morrison
San Diego Zoo -- The 6ths
Swingin' -- Tom Petty (It doesn't refer to an interstate number, but it talks about crossing the Georgia line)

By: Rumple

Rumple — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 01:46:22 -0800

John Mayall: Jacksboro Highway. Cover

Just outside of Fort worth
Texas one ninetynine
There's a rundown strip of old night clubs
Been there for a very long time
Head on out towards Jacksboro
Till you see that neon flashing
Man they got it all there
If you're looking for some action

They got the craps game at the Black Cat
Strip tease at the Duce
Over at the Skyline
It's always loud and loose

Hey the winos bummin'
Rich folks slummin'
Watchout man
'cous the cops ain't going to

The Jacksboro Highway
Jacksboro Highway
Jacksboro Highway
There's always something going down

By: Rumple

Rumple — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 02:00:29 -0800

Also, Big Joe Williams: Highway 49

Well I'm gonna get up in the morning
Hit the Highway 49
I'm gonna get up in the morning
Hit the Highway 49
I've been looking for my woman
Lord don't think she can't be found

Also covered by the Stones, I think.

And, who says the US Government never does a good deed?

By: notsnot

notsnot — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 02:59:35 -0800

LA Freeway by Guy Clark doesn't mention the number, but it still works.

By: christinetheslp

christinetheslp — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 03:12:04 -0800

Two songs by Tom Petty - "Night Rider" (references the Pacific Coast Highway) and "American Girl" (references route 441).

By: Daily Alice

Daily Alice — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 03:55:41 -0800

Babe the Blue Ox, T.G.I.F.U.; "Pack your case with strings and picks and head out on Route 66"

By: Gungho

Gungho — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 04:29:11 -0800

James Taylor- Sweet Baby James- the "Turnpike was snowy from Stockbridge to Boston"
Jethro Tull - Too Old to Rock and Roll: Too young to die -" Up on the A1 by Scotch Corner"
Also Yes covered the Simon and Garfunkle "America"

By: vers

vers — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 05:45:26 -0800

The Blessing (William Topley),
Highway 5

By: belladonna

belladonna — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 05:51:20 -0800

I-90 by Storyhill

By: Sweetie Darling

Sweetie Darling — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 05:52:41 -0800

I-95 by Fountains of Wayne

By: soma lkzx

soma lkzx — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 05:55:26 -0800

The Dismemberment Plan - Fantastic ("But I'll head my way up I-95")
The Get Up Kids - Mass Pike ("Last night on the Mass Pike")

By: skybolt

skybolt — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 06:16:25 -0800

sisters of mercy, 'black planet':
"driving down the highway headed for sunset
on the 101, in the acid rain"

By: odi.et.amo

odi.et.amo — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 07:01:01 -0800

The Zac Brown Band - Highway 20 Ride

By: infinityjinx

infinityjinx — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 07:15:07 -0800

Bif Naked has a song called Sophia with lyrics referencing the New Jersey Turnpike. Beautiful song about a road trip with her dog =)

By: digiFramph

digiFramph — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:11:25 -0800

I-76 by G. Love & Special Sauce.

By: theoddball

theoddball — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 08:18:22 -0800

Peter Wolf - Nothing but the Wheel (a song about driving old two-lanes, featuring Mick Jagger and the lyric "41 goes on and on")
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Counting Down the Hours ("But after listening all morning, as I drove down 95 / To a story of detainees who were barely kept alive ...")

By: anaelith

anaelith — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:22:36 -0800

Convoy by CW McCall--they start out on the "I-one-oh", aka Interstate 10 near LA.

By: bubukaba

bubukaba — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:59:47 -0800

"Down South, Ten Hours, I-5" by the All Girl Summer Fun Band is a fun catchy one.

"Gettin' there in style - just a few more miles - it's a rock'n'roll weekend
Better get there fast 'cause we're running out of gas, this van's a-leakin'
The window's open, we're getting rained on, we're still here, but not for long -
I heard it's sunny, it's sunny, it's sunny
Down south, 10 hours, I-5!"

By: Megafly

Megafly — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:13:02 -0800

John Mayer: "Why Georgia"

By: Megafly

Megafly — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:13:27 -0800

I am driving up 85 in the
Kind of morning that lasts all afternoon
Just stuck inside the gloom
Four more exits to my apartment but
I am tempted to keep the car in drive
And leave it all behind.

By: anthom

anthom — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:05:47 -0800

"Southtown Girls" by the Hold Steady: "Take Penn Ave. out to the 494..."

(I'm sure they've got others, given Craig Finn's constant references to Twin Cities geography, but that's the first one that jumps out in my head.)

By: SlyBevel

SlyBevel — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:45:17 -0800

Paul Simon's "Graceland" has the following lyrics:

The Mississippi Delta/was shining like a National guitar
I am following the river down the highway through the cradle of the civil war
I'm going to Graceland. Graceland. Memphis, Tennesee, I'm going to Graceland
Poor boys and pilgrims with families, and we are going to Graceland.

And so on. Great song. Hope it's the sort of thing you're after.

By: gingerbeer

gingerbeer — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 12:56:37 -0800

Indefinitely by the Old 97's mentions Highway 1. They also cover Beercans with Highway 34 in it.

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 19:27:45 -0800

"Is Anybody Going To San Antone?" -- Charley Pride ("Here I am walking down 66/wish she hadn't done me that way")

Shaun Groves' "I95 The Asshole Song" (YouTube)

By: disaster77

disaster77 — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:36:49 -0800

"18 Wheels" by the Murder City Devils talks about I-5.

By: shannonm

shannonm — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:09:32 -0800

The Verve Pipe's Veneer repeatedly mentions US Route 31.