"The Way" is a song by American alternative rock band Fastball. It was released on January 7, 1998, as the lead single from their second studio album, All the Pain Money Can Buy (1998). The song was written by the band's lead vocalist, Tony Scalzo, and was produced by the band and Julian Raymond. Scalzo was inspired to write the song after reading about the disappearance of an elderly couple who were found dead in their car many miles away from their intended destination.
"The Way" peaked at number one on the US BillboardModern Rock Tracks chart in April 1998 and remained there for seven weeks. It also reached number one in Canada on the week of June 15, 1998, and topped the RPMAlternative 30 chart for four weeks. Worldwide, the song peaked at number seven in Sweden and entered the top 20 in Australia, Iceland, and Norway. The song was voted by VH1 as one of its "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s", ranking it at number 94.[4]
Background and writingedit
Fastball frontman Tony Scalzo came up with the idea for the song after reading articles that described the June 1997 disappearance of an elderly married couple, Lela and Raymond Howard from Salado, Texas,[5] who left home to attend the Pioneer Day festival at nearby Temple, Texas, despite Lela's Alzheimer's and Raymond recently recovering from brain surgery. They were discovered two weeks later, dead, at the bottom of a ravine near Hot Springs, Arkansas, hundreds of miles off their intended route.[6][7] The authorities who investigated the accident believed that Lela, who was driving the car, was trying to locate a place where she had once vacationed.[8]
Contentedit
The song's lyrics revolve around a couple who decide to leave their lives behind by going out driving, without telling their children about their plans. Their car breaks down during the trip, and they continue on foot. The chorus expresses the idea that the couple are achieving happiness by losing touch with the world, even though they may never see their home again.[citation needed]
The beginning of the song features a radio scanning through FMstations. Most of the content heard is advertisements, and at one point, the radio tunes in while "Foolish Games" by Jewel is playing.[8]
Track listingsedit
UK 7-inch and cassette single; European CD single[9][10][11]
In 2019, alt-country band Mike and the Moonpies recorded a cover of the song while playing a show to mark the 45th anniversary of the "Hole in the Wall" bar that gave both Mike and the Moonpies and Fastball their start.[51]
Referencesedit
^ abReece, Doug (April 25, 1998). "Hollywood Has a Hit with Rockers Fastball". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 17. p. 92.
^"The 88 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1998". Spin. p. 10. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
^Cosores, Philip (July 4, 2017). "Ranking: Every Alternative Rock No. 1 Hit from Worst to Best". Consequence of Sound. p. 8. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
^"VH1 Original TV Shows, Reality TV Shows – VH1". VH1. Archived from the original on December 22, 2007.
^Perchick, Michael (July 27, 2017). "The Way: How a Salado couple's tragic story inspired a chart-topping song". WUSA. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
^"Family Remains Mystified by Disapperance [sic]". texnews.com. July 10, 1997. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
^Williams, Melissa (July 14, 1997). "Salado Couple Shared Passions for Church, Each Other". texnews.com. Archived from the original on March 15, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
^ abBell, Carrie (March 7, 1998). "The Modern Age". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 10. p. 69.
^The Way (UK 7-inch single vinyl sleeve). Fastball. Hollywood Records. 1997. 569 946-7.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^The Way (UK cassette single sleeve). Fastball. Hollywood Records. 1997. 569 946-4.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^The Way (European CD single liner notes). Fastball. Hollywood Records. 1997. 569 946-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^The Way (UK & Australian CD single liner notes). Fastball. Hollywood Records, Polydor Records (Australia). 1997. 569 947-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^The Way (Japanese CD single liner notes). Fastball. Hollywood Records. 1997. POCP-7348.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^"Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2019.
^"Reviews – For Records Out on 21 September 1998: Single Reviews". Music Week. September 12, 1998. p. 10.
^"Fastball Discography" (in Japanese). PolyGram. Archived from the original on January 28, 1999. Retrieved August 27, 2023.
^Hudak, Joseph (May 30, 2019). "Hear Mike and the Moonpies' Nostalgic Cover of Fastball's Nineties Hit 'The Way'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 24, 2021.