In response to my hubby’s recent tunequest post about Saint Etienne, I thought I’d share this. I discovered this groovy little band independently of him (I was actually in high school at the time) and I think it might be one of the reasons he decided I was cool. When we first started hanging out, he was browsing my CD collection, which was a little weird at the time, since I got a lot of free stuff through my gig as a B&N music manager. Anyway, he came across my copy of Saint Etienne’s Tiger Bay, a relatively obscure album. But since he was also a fan of the band, I think he knew right then that he wanted to marry me…

Anyway, here are the lyrics to Like a Motorway, my favorite song from that CD:

He’s gone
He’s gone

She wears her jeans torn at the waistband.
Her pretty face is stained with tears.
And in her right hand she clasps a letter
I know this means that he has gone.

And in this town of misguided tourists,
She never thought she’d fall in love.
It was a few days after her birthday,
The thrill hostess gave her first kiss.

He said her skin smelled just like petals,
Said stupid things he knew she’d like.
She said her life was like a motorway:
Dull, grey, and long ’til he came along.

He’s gone, he’s gone.

I said “How could he ever leave you?
You two were good, you were so right.”
She said “I wish that he just left me;
He’d be alive, alive tonight.”

He’s gone, he’s gone.
He’s gone, he’s gone.
He’s gone, he’s gone.