Motorway To Roswell

Pixies

Last night he could not make it
He tried hard but could not make it
Last night he could not make it

On a holiday, for many miles
Looking for a place to stay
Near some friendly star, he found this mote
And now we wonder where we are

How could this so great turn so shitty
He ended up in army crates
And photographs in files, his tiny boat
Sparked as he turned to grazed our city

I started driving on the motorway
I was feeling down

Last night he could not make it
Last night he could not make it
He tried hard but could not make it
Last night he could not make it

On a holiday, for many miles
Looking for a place to stay
Near some friendly star, he found this mote
And now we wonder

How could this so great turn so shitty
Ended up in army crates
And photographs in files, his tiny boat
Sparked as he grazed it

Last night he could not make it
He tried hard but could not make it
Last night he could not make it
He tried hard but could not make it

He started heading for the motorway and he came right now
He started heading for the motorway and he came right now
He started heading for the motorway and he came right now
...



Lyrics submitted by riffic

Motorway to Roswell Lyrics as written by Charles Thompson

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Motorway To Roswell song meanings
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31 Comments

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  • +6
    General CommentThis song is just so beautiful ... when the outro kicks in, with the piano bit, you can *see* a lonely, starry sky about a motorway and the wreck of a spaceship lying forsaken in the middle *bursts into tears*

    How the holy hell can a song about aliens be so sad and moving? Pixies were THE best.
    Child Of Musicon August 19, 2005   Link
  • +5
    General Commentno comments! that's insane! one of pixies best songs, and the best way they could have left their final album. this song is so good, especially the piano bit at the end...haunting. anyways, that's what i think
    xpankfrisston September 24, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General CommentThis song always makes me so sad... thinking about this alien who is so excited for his big heroic journey to a "friendly star" and who winds up dead in a crate. I always find the alien references in Pixies/Frank Black songs to be very interesting, just one of the 10 million reasons why the Pixies are the best EVER!!!
    wickedsprouton April 20, 2003   Link
  • +2
    General CommentThis song is very, very sad. It's sort of a reflection on how small minded we are as a race - this visitor has come across the emptiness of space to visit us and we kill him/capture him and he ends up dead in a crate in the Pentagon.

    It always makes me feel like crying, especially "his tiny boat/sparked...", and the piano at the end is just heartbreaking. It has that quavering quality to its sound that makes it extra sad.

    Truly the Pixies are a wonder. Frank Black/Black Francis once said that he felt that aliens/UFOs should be a romantic, mysterious subject.
    caitsith01on July 07, 2003   Link
  • +2
    General CommentThis is one of those songs, that I always kind of skipped over. I had NO idea how thoroughly awesome it was, until I blasted it in the headphones one day. It is SO dramatic, and emotional.

    You guys are right about the outro: it is SO powerful, particularly with the backing vocals that play simultaneously with the main vocal (When Frank Black sings: "He started heading for the Motorway..") .It builds to the point of being almost cinematic. I could definitely see this in a movie, during the end credits. Better yet, it should play throughout!
    GinaMarzon August 11, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI totally agree with all of you, except in the part where Caitsith01 says that this is sort of a reflection on how smal minded we are as a race. Why? Because this song is written from the alien point of view, and it never says that humans killed him. I know that we ARE small minded in some way, specially if we think that the alien was a friendly visitor in the song. But the song doesn't state that humans mistreated him or anything.
    For me, the core of the song lives in the lines "How could something so great / turn so shitty?"; a reflection on the irony of fate.
    Alienoon December 02, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General CommentOne of the sadest Pixies songs, along with Hey, Where Is My Mind?, Silver, The Sad Punk, Winterlong, Havalina and Stormy Weather, Brick Is Red and Wave Of Mutilation (UK Surf).

    You just have to feel sorry for the naive alien, and how badly treated he was...the piano at the end screams sadness.
    toher.!on March 15, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General CommentMy song of the year. Love everything about this song, the lyrics, the music, the infamous single piano note, the idea of life out there somewhere. Superb song. Thank you PIXIES!!!
    zloetakoeon May 05, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment Arguably the best pixies song ever. The narrative is just terrific
    SOTSon July 27, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General CommentOnly the pixies could write a song about the rosswell alieb crash fer christ sakes and the fake autopsy heh
    craiguson March 29, 2003   Link

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