If life’s a journey, not a destination, as the song goes, then logically, we spend many of our waking hours on its highways. For many of us, the journey becomes literal, our future shaped by forks in the road and the exits we take, or our great escapes. We change our city, change the vehicle, change the oil, but in the end, there are some stretches of pavement that call us back again.
A collection of stories, lost on highways and side streets, woven into ethereal cohesion…
High Fidelity 21: Lost Highways
1. Cruz – Christina Aguilera
Celebrating a fantasy come true/Packing all my bags/Finally on the move/I’m leaving today… But somehow I’ll miss it/I think I’ll really miss it one day.
2. Motorcycle Drive-By – Third Eye Blind
That was when I knew that I could never have you/I knew that before you did/Still I’m the one who’s stupid… I hope that you will take a piece of me with you
3. Open Road Song – Eve 6
I don’t need a girl/Don’t need a friend/’Cause my friend lonesome’s unconditional…
4. Florida – Patty Griffin
Isn’t it hard sometimes/Isn’t it lonely/How I still hang around here/There’s nothing to hold me…
5. Everyday Is A Winding Road – Sheryl Crow
I’m a stranger in my own life/Jump in, let’s go/Lay back, enjoy the show… These are the days when anything goes…
6. Passenger – Deftones ft Maynard James Keenan
Drive faster/Roll the windows down/The cool night air is curious…Take me to the edge
7. Empty Road – Matthew Good
Said sister, are you safe?/Has this world got you thinking it ain’t nothin’ but a jailer’s cage… It keeps me looking for a place in your heart…
8. Locked In The Trunk Of A Car – The Tragically Hip
I found a place/It’s dark and rotted/It’s a cool, sweet kinda place where the ‘copters won’t spot it…Let me out!
9. Car Crash – Our Lady Peace
It was too hard to tell/You were swerving, they were swerving much too late…. It’s more than I can bear
10. Birmingham – Amanda Marshall
As she drives, she rubs her rosary/She’s never been so all alone; she’s never felt so free/She got miles to go/Blind faith and hope…
11. Painkillers – Lauren Pritchard
I finally did the math of where I’m going/And my heart aches for you, but I got broken too/And I still wanna be someone… No painkillers make it go away/If I tried to overdose, it wouldn’t bring no change…
12. The Vicodin Song – Terra Naomi
I’ve got Vicodin, do you wanna come over?/I know it’s a long drive from Malibu… I’ll meet you there…
13. Dogs – Moist
Found the bosses’ gold Camaro/Think I’ll take it for a ride/Cross the world to California, where I know she’s waiting…
14. Used To Be Alright – I Mother Earth
Afraid to trust me when my hands are helping you/Then you long for the days, tripping down the long road/Just reading the signs that show you the way… That was back when we used to be alright…
15. A Sorta Fairytale – Tori Amos
Things you said that day, up on the 101/The girl had come undone/I tried to downplay it with a bet about us/You said you’d take it as long as I could/I could not erase it…
16. Life Is A Highway – Tom Cochrane
From Mozambique to those Memphis nights/The Khyber Pass to Vancouver’s lights/I love you now like I loved you then…
17. Drive – Bic Runga
Keep my heart turning on axles around you/Keep our love burning just like it used to do….No boy, don’t speak now/You just drive…
18. Sprawl I (Flatland) – Arcade Fire
The last defender of the sprawl/Said, well where do you kids live?/Well sir, if you only knew what the answer is worth/Been searching every corner of the earth
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