Roadrunner (song)

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"Roadrunner" is a song written by Jonathan Richman and recorded in various versions by Richman and his band, in most cases credited as The Modern Lovers.

As a teenager Richman saw the Velvet Underground perform many times, and the format of “Roadrunner” is derived directly from the Velvets’ song “Sister Ray”. “Roadrunner” is based on two chords (D and A) rather than “Sister Ray”’s three, but they share the same persistent throbbing rhythm, and lyrics which in performance were largely improvised around a central theme.

However, in contrast to Lou Reed’s morally detached saga of debauchery and decay, Richman’s lyrics are passionate and candid, dealing with the freedom of driving alone and the beauty of the modern urban environment, specifically the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. The introductory, joyously sung, "one two three four five six", and lyrics about "going faster miles an hour" with the "radio on !" have endeared the song to many critics and listeners since it was first heard.

Richman wrote the song by 1970, when he began performing it in public, aged 19. Former bandmate John Felice recalled ^[1] that as teenagers he and Richman ”used to get in the car and just drive up and down Route 128 and the turnpike. We’d come up over a hill and he’d see the radio towers, the beacons flashing, and he would get almost teary-eyed. He’d see all this beauty in things where other people just wouldn’t see it.”

Richman’s band The Modern Lovers first recorded “Roadrunner” with producer John Cale (previously of the Velvet Underground) in 1972. This version was eventually released in 1976 on The Modern Lovers long-delayed but highly acclaimed debut album (originally Home of the Hits HH019).

Later in 1972, the group recorded another version with Kim Fowley, which was released in 1981 on the album “The Original Modern Lovers” (Bomp BLP 4021). A live version from 1973 was also later officially released on the “Live At Longbranch Saloon” album.

The most commercially successful version of the song, credited to Richman as a solo artist, was recorded for Beserkley Records in late 1974, produced by label boss Matthew King Kaufman, and released at the time on a single (Beserkley B-34701) with a B-side by the band Earth Quake. This version was reissued in 1975 on the album “Beserkley Chartbusters Vol. 1” (Beserkley JBZ-0044). In the UK, where Richman had received substantial and very positive publicity in the music press, it was released in 1976 as a single (Beserkley BZZ 1), known as “Roadrunner (Once)”, with the Cale-produced “Roadrunner (Twice)” on the B-side. This single reached number 11 in the UK singles chart in early 1977.

A version of "Roadrunner" was recorded by the Sex Pistols in 1978 on The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. The 1998 UK number one single, "Brimful of Asha" by Cornershop, was also inspired by the song.