| "Like a Motorway" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Saint Etienne | ||||
| from the album Tiger Bay | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | 16 May 1994[1] | |||
| Genre | Synth-pop[2] | |||
| Length | 3:38 | |||
| Label | Heavenly (HVN 40) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Saint Etienne | |||
| Saint Etienne singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Like a Motorway" on YouTube | ||||
"Like a Motorway" is a song by British pop group Saint Etienne. It appears on their third album, Tiger Bay (1994) and was released as a single by Heavenly Records in May 1994,[3] reaching number 47 on the UK Singles Chart and number 13 on the UK Dance Singles Chart. The US release of Tiger Bay also features an "alternate version" with more complex percussion and electric guitar stings. It also appears on the original soundtrack for the 1994 film Speed, although the single is never heard in the actual film itself.[4]
The song combines the melody from the nineteenth century folk song "Silver Dagger" with a driving techno beat influenced by German groups Kraftwerk and Snap!.[citation needed] It describes a friend whose lover has mysteriously vanished.[5] The cover art for the single features an abandoned car overgrown with foliage. The accompanying music 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.
- ^ "Like A Motorway UK 1994 Heavenly". Saintetiennedisco.com. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
- ^ Treble Staff (May 11, 2020). "A History of Synth-Pop in 50 Essential Songs". Treble. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ "Like A Motorway UK 1994 Heavenly Records". Saintetiennedisco.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ "Like a Motorway - Saint Etienne | Song Info". AllMusic.
- ^ Plagenhoef, Scott; Schreiber, Ryan, eds. (November 2008). The Pitchfork 500. Simon & Schuster. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-4165-6202-3.