Well, I heard it on the highway like the holy word of G-d
It was so loud and clear I had to pull over, I was so awed
Well, I heard it on the highway and I couldn’t resist the push
It was just like a commandment from heaven, like the voice in the burning bush
Well, shake, rattle, and roll down the Garden State
Down Routes 35, 71, and 88
Even if we’ll just run round in circles cursed by fate
We’ll capture all the views now ‘cause we may never be here again
I heard it on the highway, it was the greatest song in history
It had a rhythm and melody all its own but the lyrics, they were a mystery
It was the sound of the rock’n’roll heart and it was beating in full blues time
It said, Go down to the ocean and make the music of your mind
Well, I saw it from the highway
Risin’ on the horizon like Mt Sinai in flames
Like a fiddler on the roof down on the Parkway
Singin’ out that tune and calling my name
It was handed to me by the seaside
White hot and written in stone
Full power forward and full speed ahead
No stopping now that you’re on your own
It was the day I graduated
when I came back in touch with the calling
It was there where fifteen bands were playing
Paying respect to the one who had fallen
It was just as the all-star open jam was ending
The sound of drums boomed from way up high
There were ten bolts of lightning, one for each Word
crashing through the mist-choked sky
I heard an organ scream through a Leslie
But none on Earth ever sounded so great
I looked up to heaven, I thought I saw the moon
But I knew I was staring clear through the gates
I kicked off my shoes, I fell down on my knees
I bowed face down into the sand
But he didn’t want none of that false formality
She just wanted me to reach out my hand
Well, I heard it on the highway …
©2017, 2022 The Hesh Inc.
This track is about hearing the greatest rock'n'roll song on the radio. I wrote it in 1989 or thereabouts, when I was living in Boston and making the five-hour trip to the Jersey Shore whenever I could take the opportunity. The music came to me along the last leg of the journey, when I was cruising down the Garden State Parkway in the wee hours immediately before reaching my destination.
Is it right to list here where I pilfered the music from? Why not. Try to imagine "Jungleland" played in a minor key, filtered through "Born To Be Wild," and then taking the exit ramp and going through the local roads with the second half of "Layla" playing, until the music deposits you at the beach just as the sun is coming up.
Its earliest version, keyboards and voice only, was released on the first Soul In Exile album in 1999, and the full-band version on Soul In Exile 3: Love Runs Aground in 2017. This remixed and remastered version appears on Soul In Exile Redux, released on January 28, 2022.