Transcribed by mark dorset


He's gone, / he's gone. /


She wears sad jeans / torn at the waistband. /
Her pretty face / is stained with tears. /
And in her right hand / she clasps a letter; /
I know this means / that he has gone. /


And in this town / of mis-guided tourists, /
She never thought / she'd fall in love. /
It was a few days / after her birthday, /
The thrill hostess / gave her first kiss. /


He said her skin / smelled just like petals, /
Said stupid things / he knew she'd like. /
She said her life / was like a motorway: /
Dull, grey, and long / 'til he came along. /


He's gone, / he's gone. /


I said "how could / he ever leave you? /
You two were good, / you were so right." /
She said "I wish / that he just left me; /
He'd be alive, / alive tonight." /


He's gone, / he's gone. /
He's gone, / he's gone. /
He's gone, / he's gone.



Lyrics submitted by circusjuggler

Like a Motorway Lyrics as written by Peter Stewart Wiggs Bob Stanley

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Like A Motorway song meanings
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8 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    I don't think its "thrill hostess" that's not a real thing.

    I always thought it was "her skin smelt just like pebbles", but that may just be a mondegreen.

    A wonderful song, always makes me melancholy.

    matthewsheffieldon July 10, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    A naive hostess lives a boring life until the day she knows an apparently well-meaning tourist in the hotel where she works, however he simply leaves her on sending to her a letter where he explains his reasons for doing it. And this is his last mistake! I mean she gets so revolted that she kills him before the night falls...

    circusjuggleron October 19, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    What's a thrill hostess?

    This song is typical of this band -- the lyrics are pretty dumb and aggressively refuse to rhyme, but it's so beautiful that it doesn't matter.

    jrm36on September 12, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The first part just explains her sadness. The story: She, a hostess, gets her first kiss. It's unexpected and she really loves him. He says the right things. She tells him how awful her life was before him. The narrator asks how he could ever leave her. They were so in love; it didn't make sense. She wishes he had simply broken up with her. He wouldn't have died.

    Maybe he killed hmself? Car accident? That's always how these love stories end up. This song is so bizarre, but I love it.

    woahhelloon December 16, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I have no other reason to believe that she devoured this guy in their relationship. he lost himself in her. that's what i think it means. along those lines.

    GrungyBeatleon October 27, 2018   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    ok i figured it out. the wife and husband have the relationship. but the venusian gf devoured him. something strange like it.

    GrungyBeatleon October 27, 2018   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Couldn't it be "frail hostess" instead of the apparently meaningless "thrill"?

    And I saw a video of a live performance and it is quite clear how Sarah utters "pebbles" instead of "petals".

    Anyway, terrific song, haunting lyrics.

    Cagniolinion October 02, 2019   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I'd always heard this as "her first dance / gave her first kiss", and thought he died in a car crash with a letter being from the police. Yes, pebbles

    jsparkxon January 29, 2024   Link

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