First off, The Breeders did not write this song. So you can throw out all your ideas about where Kim/Kelly lived or their experiences. The song was written by Dom Leone of Ed's Redeeming Qualities. They were a Boston band, so it could be about Massachusetts Route 9. But, said band also moved out to San Francisco. South of San Francisco is California State Route 9, which might well be the "9" in the song. There also the lyric "looking for 138". Which could be an address or exit number.
Or, here is an even wilder idea I think is right when you put all the pieces together. This could be a song written about a vacation through the desert southwest. Here's why I think this. First off, there is a hwy 9 in Utah that goes through a particularly scenic part of the state (it is the main hwy through Zion National Park). That is in the eastern end of the desert southwest.. Second, there is a hwy 138 in the California Mojave desert, again, in a scenic part of the state and in the southwestern end of the desert southwest.. Then there is the reference to Carson City. Carson City, NV is in the northern end of the desert southwest, thus completing a large triangle that encompasses the three geographic regions in the area, The Great Basin, The Mojave Desert, and the Colorado Plateau. Add on the general western/country sound, the fiddle, and the possible references to a shotgun wedding and it all seems to come together. I find that people from outside of the desert southwest, especially those from wet climes, romanticize it. It's easy to write a song about something you are enamored with.
Now of course I could just be seeing patterns in the clouds here, and we might never know because Dom Leone died in 1989. Maybe someone can ask the surviving members of Ed's Redeeming Qualities.
Lastly, one Steve Hickoff is also a credited writer of the song, but I can find absolutely no information about him.
First off, The Breeders did not write this song. So you can throw out all your ideas about where Kim/Kelly lived or their experiences. The song was written by Dom Leone of Ed's Redeeming Qualities. They were a Boston band, so it could be about Massachusetts Route 9. But, said band also moved out to San Francisco. South of San Francisco is California State Route 9, which might well be the "9" in the song. There also the lyric "looking for 138". Which could be an address or exit number.
Or, here is an even wilder idea I think is right when you put all the pieces together. This could be a song written about a vacation through the desert southwest. Here's why I think this. First off, there is a hwy 9 in Utah that goes through a particularly scenic part of the state (it is the main hwy through Zion National Park). That is in the eastern end of the desert southwest.. Second, there is a hwy 138 in the California Mojave desert, again, in a scenic part of the state and in the southwestern end of the desert southwest.. Then there is the reference to Carson City. Carson City, NV is in the northern end of the desert southwest, thus completing a large triangle that encompasses the three geographic regions in the area, The Great Basin, The Mojave Desert, and the Colorado Plateau. Add on the general western/country sound, the fiddle, and the possible references to a shotgun wedding and it all seems to come together. I find that people from outside of the desert southwest, especially those from wet climes, romanticize it. It's easy to write a song about something you are enamored with. Now of course I could just be seeing patterns in the clouds here, and we might never know because Dom Leone died in 1989. Maybe someone can ask the surviving members of Ed's Redeeming Qualities. Lastly, one Steve Hickoff is also a credited writer of the song, but I can find absolutely no information about him.