| Like a Motorway | |
| Cover: | Like a Motorway.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Saint Etienne |
| Album: | Tiger Bay |
| B-Side: |
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| Released: | [1] |
| Genre: | |
| Label: | Heavenly (HVN 40) |
| Producer: | Saint Etienne |
| Prev Title: | Pale Movie |
| Prev Year: | 1994 |
| Next Title: | Hug My Soul |
| Next Year: | 1994 |
"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,[2] 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.[3]
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!. It describes a friend whose lover has mysteriously vanished.[4] 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.
Dave Thompson from AllMusic described the song as "mysteriously Kraftwerk-ian".[5] Another editor, Tim Sendra, named it "one of Saint Etienne's best songs".[6] Larry Flick from Billboard felt it "has a nice sing-along chorus. Sarah Cracknell uses her girlish, light voice well, and has grown into a polished front person..."[7] 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."[8] 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."[9]
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."[10] 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."[11] 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."[12] On the album release, the magazine's Jim Wirth called the track "teutonic".[13] Neil Spencer from The Observer viewed it as a "chart contender" and "disco slick".[14]
All tracks written and composed by Stanley and Wiggs; except where indicated.
| Chart (1994) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| UK Singles (OCC) | 47 | |
| UK Dance (Music Week)[15] | 13 | |
| UK Club Chart (Music Week)[16] | 31 |