Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
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 their car broke down they started walking
Where were they going without ever knowing the way?
Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold
It's 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 won't make it home but they really don't care
They wanted the highway, they're happier 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
(Leavin' it all behind)
Where were they going without ever knowing the way?
Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold
It's 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 won't make it home but they really don't care
They wanted the highway, they're happier there today, today
Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold
It's 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 won't make it home but they really don't care
They wanted the highway, they're happier there today, today
(Leavin' it all behind)
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 their car broke down they started walking
Where were they going without ever knowing the way?
Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold
It's 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 won't make it home but they really don't care
They wanted the highway, they're happier 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
(Leavin' it all behind)
Where were they going without ever knowing the way?
Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold
It's 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 won't make it home but they really don't care
They wanted the highway, they're happier there today, today
Anyone could see the road that they walk on is paved in gold
It's 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 won't make it home but they really don't care
They wanted the highway, they're happier there today, today
(Leavin' it all behind)
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Hey, this post was well to point and tight. But I think there's more going on here poetically in terms of human mythic value for people than I found expressed in the 6 or 7 comments I just read tonight.
So I posted one tonight that says the below: I've read authenticated comments from the author of the lyrics that tie the song to the story of the elderly couple who drove off and disappeared to later be found dead in an auto accident (possibly dementia-related). But even if not consciously intended, I think this song deserves high praise for its transcendent lyrics.
Compare it to the recent hit song by Portugal. The Man "Feel it Still" and tell me you don't see how it could relate very well to some themes that band's latest album (entitled "Woodstock") expresses.
For example, the chaotic social landscape of 1960's and 1970's America certainly included examples of parents leaving children behind. Sometimes it was young women or couples on their way to Woodstock who might ditch their kids with moms & pops for way too long. In that respect, the story of "The Way" can be compared to "Feel it Still." In the latter, "Leave her for the babystitter, momma, call the grave digger" carries a similar suggestion to the former's "The children woke up and they couldn't find them; they left before the sun came up that day."
I'm suggesting that The Way conveys very well a different story than that of two old senile people driving off the road. It has always led me to think of the things that might make adults (proper citizens, perhaps) abscond from even their children in favor of living as wandering shadows (vs. the life they seem to face otherwise). And not all the ideas I have about why people might do that are dark or terrible. Sometimes maybe it's just 1971 and too much of what you were told has recently been proven BULLSHIT. For some people that might just be enough to make them bail for "a weekend to themselves" and then maybe never end up coming back.