Like a Motorway

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"Like a Motorway"
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Template:Infobox song/link by Saint Etienne
from the album Tiger Bay
B-side
  • "Sushi Rider"
  • "You Know I'll Miss You When You're Gone"
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Genre
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LabelHeavenly (HVN 40)
[[Songwriter|SongwriterTemplate:Pluralize from text]]
[[Record producer|ProducerTemplate:Pluralize from text]]Saint Etienne
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"Pale Movie"
(1994) 		"Like a Motorway"
(589) 		"Hug My Soul"
(1994)
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"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,[4] reaching number 47 on the UK Singles Chart and number 13 on the Music Week 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.[5]

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.[6] 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.

Critical reception

Dave Thompson from AllMusic described the song as "mysteriously Kraftwerk-ian".[7] Another AllMusic editor, Tim Sendra, named it one of Saint Etienne's best songs.[8] Larry Flick from Billboard magazine felt it has "a nice sing-along chorus", complimenting Sarah Cracknell that "uses her girlish, light voice well, and has grown into a polished front person..."[9] He also noted its "gauzy softness", adding, "DJs will dig the rhythm foundation with its rapid, Giorgio Moroder-esque pattern, though single is also the act's best bet to date for a top 40 breakthrough."[10] Simon Price from Melody Maker praised it as "divine", adding further, "When I hear that heartbreakingly perfect bassline, feel that sublime, liberating, walking-on-air release you only get from disco (and I mean disco, 1979, Sheila & B. Devotion's 'Spacer', DiscoDiscoDiscoDisco), I want to forever renounce nasty alternative noise as a bad idea."[3]

Another Melody Maker editor, Holly Barringer, named "Like a Motorway" Single of the Week, admitting. "I'm a long-standing member of the Saint Etienne non-fanclub. [...] But I just resigned, because this sounds like early Yazoo or Erasure and has blown my contempt right out of the water."[11] Stuart Bailie and Ben Willmott from NME both complimented the track. Bailie declared it as "Marvellous dreamy stuff — a Europop tune that's a near relative of Desireless' 'Voyage Voyage' with a tragic storyline straight off an old Shangri-Las love-'em-and-leave-'em weepie."[12] Willmott stated, "Whether you believe the Etiennes to be perfect pop purveyors or kitsch glam chancers, you can't deny their love of good music from every genre."[13] On the album release, the magazine's Jim Wirth called the track "teutonic".[14] Neil Spencer from The Observer viewed it as a "chart contender" and "disco slick".[15] Roy Wilkinson from Select felt it "emphasise the way they can be soothingly pastoral and quietly urban in the same song".[16]

Track listing

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Charts

Chart (1994) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC) 47
UK Dance (Music Week)[17] 13
UK Club Chart (Music Week)[18] 31

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Like A Motorway UK 1994 Heavenly". Saintetiennedisco.com. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Treble Staff (May 11, 2020). "A History of Synth-Pop in 50 Essential Songs". Treble. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Price, Simon (26 February 1994). "Albums". Melody Maker. p. 30. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Like A Motorway UK 1994 Heavenly Records". Saintetiennedisco.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Like a Motorway - Saint Etienne | Song Info". AllMusic.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Plagenhoef, Scott; Schreiber, Ryan, eds. (November 2008). The Pitchfork 500. Simon & Schuster. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-4165-6202-3.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Thompson, Dave. "Saint Etienne – Tiger Bay". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Sendra, Tim. "Saint Etienne – Like a Motorway". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Flick, Larry (14 May 1994). "Dance Trax: Jacqueline Won't Let Go; Denise Johnson On Rise" (PDF). Billboard. p. 38. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Flick, Larry (25 June 1994). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 89. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Barringer, Holly (21 May 1994). "Singles". Melody Maker. p. 33. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bailie, Stuart (14 May 1994). "Singles". NME. p. 20. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Willmott, Ben (7 May 1994). "Groove Check". NME. p. 15. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wirth, Jim. "St Etienne – London Kentish Town Forum". NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  15. ^ Spencer, Neil (27 February 1994). "Pop: Releases". The Observer.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wilkinson, Roy (December 1995). "New Old Albums". Select. p. 119. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 28 May 1994. p. 26. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). 7 May 1994. p. 4. Retrieved 15 May 2023.

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