Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Song of the day - The Way

Today's song of the day is kind of different. This isn't a song that I particularly love or anything, I just had a story to share about it, so I thought that I'd do so through song of the day...

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Over the weekend we were listening to the satellite radio on the boat and the DJ came on and started talking about this song that was conceived after reading about actual events. I was listening to her speak, only half interested. Then the song came on...

Do you remember the song The Way by Fastball?
Yeah, that was it.

This excerpt from the wikipedia entry for "The Way" is pretty much word for word what the DJ said.

"The Way" revolves around an older married couple who decide to give it all away by packing up and going driving and drinking. Along the way, their car breaks down, so they continue on foot. As the song goes on, it becomes apparent that these two achieve happiness by losing touch with the world.

Fastball bassist Tony Scalzo came up with the idea for the song after reading journalistic articles which described the disappearance of an older married couple, Raymond and Lela Howard from Salado, Texas, who left home in June of 1997 to attend a family reunion but never arrived[1]. They were discovered two weeks later, dead, at the bottom of a ravine near Hot Springs, Arkansas, hundreds of miles off their intended route[2].

About the song, Scalzo said that "It's a romanticized take on what happened" - he "pictured them taking off to have fun, like they did when they first met."


Kinda changes everything about the way you think about that song, doesn't it?

Fastball - The Way
They made up their minds
And they started packing
They left before the sun came up that day
An exit to eternal summer slacking
But where were they going without ever knowing the way?
They drank up the wine
And they got to talking
They now had more important things to say
And when the car broke down they started walking
Where were they going without ever knowing the way?

Chorus:

Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold
And its always summer, they'll never get cold
They'll never get hungry
They'll never get old and gray
You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere
They wont make it home
But they really don't care
They wanted the highway
They're happy there today , today

The children woke up
And they couldn't find em
They left before the sun came up that day
They just drove off
And left it all behind em
But where were they going without ever knowing the way?

Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold
And its always summer, they'll never get cold
They'll never get hungry
They'll never get old and gray
You can see their shadows wandering off somewhere
They wont make it home
But they really don't care
They wanted the highway
They're happy there today , today (repeat)


Hear a live version of the song here.

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Pssssst! look over to the right! I've got a poll there regarding song of the day. Please vote!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I already knew about this, but I had to say OMG that was just playing on my iPod. Freaky.

Parentalmistake said...

i would vote in your poll
however we have very different music tastes! but your music taste doesn't stink soooo i had no where to put my vote! :O