Fastball - The Way（图） - 珍珠湾ART

这首 1998 年的旧歌是 Fastball 乐队贝斯手 Tony Scalzo 受一个真实的故事启发而写的。
有一对来自美国德州的夫妇 Lela and Raymond Howard，妻子 Lela 患有阿尔茨海默氏病（Alzheimer's Disease），即常说的“老人痴呆症”，丈夫 Raymond 则刚做完脑部手术。某天他们开车到附近参加完家庭聚会后，就驶上高速公路，并神秘消失，不知所终。他们失踪后，德州奥斯丁一家报纸专门写了一篇文章报导关于这对老夫妻。同样来自奥斯丁的 Tony Scalzo 对这故事很感兴趣，幻想着 Howard 夫妇浪漫地远离俗世烦嚣，云游四海 Have Fun 去了，并写了这首充满理想主义和传奇色彩的 The Way，录入当年最佳专辑《All The Pain Money Can Buy》中并成为经典。
然而现实总是残酷的，就在 Tony Scalzo 写完这首歌后不久，人们在亚肯色州一个峡谷的底部发现了 Howard 夫妇的尸体，地点离他们家只有三日车程……

They made up their minds
And they started packing
They left before the sun came up that day
An exit to eternal summer slacking
But where were they going Without ever knowing the way?
They drank up the wine
And they got to talking
They now had more important things to say
And when the car broke down They started walking
Where were they going without ever knowing the way?

Anyone could see The road that they walk on is paved in gold
And It's always summer, they'll never get cold
They'll Never get hungry
They'll never get old and gray
You can see their shadows Wandering off somewhere
They won't make it home
But they really don't care
They wanted the highway
They're happier there today, today

The children woke up
And they couldn't find 'em
They Left before the sun came up that day
They just drove off
And left it all behind 'em
But Where were they going Without ever knowing the way?

Anyone could see The road that they walk on is paved in gold
And It's always summer, they'll never get cold
They'll Never get hungry
They'll never get old and gray
You can see their shadows Wandering off somewhere
They Won't make it home
But they really don't care
They wanted the highway
They're happy there today, today (repeat)

“路”——这首歌是当年 Cambridge 的 World Chart Show 的打榜歌，印象很好。是很典型的 POP，但这不是重点，主要是听这首歌，就好像隔壁的阿叔在对你循循善诱一般，很亲切，很随和——会有这样的感觉当然是因为他的旋律和他的歌词……当时只是觉得很励志很耐听：不识前路，你又能去那里！？