"The Way" is a song by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

. It was released on January 7, 1998, as the lead single from their second studio album, '' All the Pain Money Can Buy'' (1998). The song was written by the band's lead vocalist, Tony Scalzo, and was produced by the band and Julian Raymond. Scalzo was inspired to write the song after reading about the disappearance of an elderly couple who were found dead in their car many miles away from their intended destination. "The Way" peaked at number one on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart in April 1998 and remained there for seven weeks. It also reached number one in Canada on the week of June 15, 1998, and topped the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Alternative 30 chart for four weeks. Worldwide, the song peaked at number seven in Sweden and entered the top 20 in Australia, Iceland, and Norway. The song was voted by

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

as one of its "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s", ranking it at number 94.

Background and writing

Fastball frontman Tony Scalzo came up with the idea for the song after reading articles that described the June 1997 disappearance of an elderly married couple, Lela and Raymond Howard from Salado, Texas, who left home to attend the Pioneer Day festival at nearby

Temple, Texas Temple is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the city has a population of 82,073 according to the 2020 United States census, U.S. census. Temple lies in the region referred to as Central Texas and is a principal city in th ...

, despite Lela's

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

and Raymond recently recovering from brain surgery. They were discovered two weeks later, dead, at the bottom of a ravine near

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County, Arkansas, Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs ...

, hundreds of miles off their intended route. The authorities who investigated the incident believed that Lela, who was driving the car, was trying to locate a place where she had once vacationed.

Content

The song's lyrics revolve around a couple who decide to leave their lives behind by going out driving, without telling their children about their plans. Their car breaks down during the trip, and they continue on foot. The chorus expresses the idea that the couple are achieving happiness by losing touch with the world, even though they may never see their home again. Singer Tony Scalzo explained the meaning by saying: “These people are gone, and their kids are all adults. It’s their lives; they’re probably just trying to get back that flavor of young love and adventure: 'Let’s go! We don’t have to tell anybody where we’re going; what business is that of theirs?'” The beginning of the song features a few seconds of a radio scanning through FM

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle stat ...

. Most of the content heard is advertisements, but a brief fragment of the song " Foolish Games" by Jewel is audible.

Track listings

UK 7-inch and cassette single; European CD single # "The Way" (radio edit) – 4:08 # "Are You Ready for the Fallout?" – 3:15 UK, Australian, and Japanese CD single # "The Way" (radio edit) – 4:08 # "Are You Ready for the Fallout?" – 3:15 # "Freeloader Freddy" – 3:09

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Covers

In 2019,

alt-country Alternative country (commonly abbreviated to alt-country; also known as alternative country rock, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative) is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that diffe ...

band Mike and the Moonpies recorded a cover of the song while playing a show to mark the 45th anniversary of the Hole in the Wall bar that gave both Mike and the Moonpies and Fastball their start.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Way, The 1998 singles 1998 songs Fastball (band) songs Hollywood Records singles Music videos directed by McG RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs based on actual events