Like a Motorway

"Like a Motorway"
Single by Saint Etienne
from the album Tiger Bay
B-side "Sushi Rider", "You Know I'll Miss You When You're Gone"
Released May 16, 1994
Format 7", 12" vinyl, MC, CD
Genre Techno, Folk
Length 3:38
Label Heavenly - HVN 40
Writer(s) Stanley/Wiggs
Producer(s) Saint Etienne
Saint Etienne singles chronology
"Pale Movie"
(1994)		 "Like a Motorway"
(1994)		 "Hug My Soul"
(1994)

"Like a Motorway" is a 1994 song by the British pop group Saint Etienne. The song combines the melody from the nineteenth century folk song "Silver Dagger" with a driving techno beat influenced by Kraftwerk and Snap!. It describes a friend whose lover has mysteriously vanished.[1]

"Like a Motorway" appears on the album Tiger Bay. It was released as a single in May 1994, and reached #47 on the UK Singles Chart. The US release of Tiger Bay also features an "alternate version" with more complex percussion and electric guitar stings.

The cover art for the single features an abandoned car overgrown with foliage. The video consists of a long, slow zoom in Sarah Cracknell as she sings against a black background, intercut with occasional rapid shots of Pete Wiggs and Bob Stanley in a car.

Track listing

All tracks written and composed by Stanley and Wiggs; except where indicated.

7": Heavenly / HVN 40 and MC: Heavenly / HVN40C
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Like a Motorway (Radio Edit)"    3:38
2. "You Know I'll Miss You When You're Gone"  Cracknell, Bund 2:57
3. "Sushi Rider"  Cracknell, Bund 2:57
12": Heavenly / HVN 40 12 and CD: Heavenly / HVN40CD
No. Title Length
1. "Like a Motorway (Radio Edit)" (mixed by Rick Smith from Underworld) 3:38
2. "Like a Motorway (Chekhov Warp Dub)" (mixed by Dust Brothers) 9:18
3. "Like a Motorway (The David Holmes Mix)"   13:01
4. "Like a Motorway (Skin Up, You're Already Dead)" (mixed by Autechre) 8:47
12": Heavenly / HVN 40 12 P II (UK Promo)
No. Title Length
1. "Like a Motorway (Chekhov Warp Dub)" (mixed by Dust Brothers) 9:18
2. "Like a Motorway (Chekhov Warp Mix)" (mixed by Dust Brothers) 9:03
CD: Warner Bros. / PRO-A-6962 (US Promo)
No. Title Length
1. "Like a Motorway (Alternate Version)" (mixed by Daniel Abraham) 5:26
2. "Like a Motorway (Alternate Version Edit)" (mixed by Daniel Abraham) 3:06
3. "Like a Motorway"   5:43
4. "Like a Motorway (Radio Edit)"   3:38

References

  1. ↑ Plagenhoef, Scott; Schreiber, Ryan, eds. (November 2008). The Pitchfork 500. Simon & Schuster. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-4165-6202-3.