1
Chewing on a piece of grass
Walking down the road
Tell me, how long you gonna stay here Joe?
Some people say this town don't look good in snow
You don't care, I know
Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger
Than moonshine
You're gonna go I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying, no despair
Alligator lizards in the air
In the air
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do, do
Wishin' on a falling star
Waitin' for the early train
Sorry boy, but I've been hit by purple rain
Aw, come on Joe, you can always change your name
Thanks a lot son, just the same
Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger
Than moonshine
You're gonna go I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying, no despair
Alligator lizards in the air
In the air
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Walking down the road
Tell me, how long you gonna stay here Joe?
Some people say this town don't look good in snow
You don't care, I know
Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger
Than moonshine
You're gonna go I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying, no despair
Alligator lizards in the air
In the air
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do, do
Wishin' on a falling star
Waitin' for the early train
Sorry boy, but I've been hit by purple rain
Aw, come on Joe, you can always change your name
Thanks a lot son, just the same
Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger
Than moonshine
You're gonna go I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying, no despair
Alligator lizards in the air
In the air
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
Do, do-do, do, do-do
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I was listening to Ventura Hwy 2 months after my wife passed away while driving on open highway going north in California. It made me feel like my wife was riding beside me. Still gives me chills to listen to this song in this light. It's a classic song of changing times, traveling on, remembering the past, but moving forward, somewhere, anywhere, and being ok with it, if fact, cool with it. The song gave me comfort, and helped me see the sun shining on my wife's face, with a cool breeze flowing through her hair. I know she's in a better place.
Cheers, brother. We have those memories and they are as real as anything else. You loved.
why do people always have to connect songs from this era with drugs and just take it how it is I mean some songs like Hotel Califorinia by the eagles abviously are but ya i dont think this could have anytihng to do with drugs its just about restlessness and wanting a change somehow some way
@Marinersfan4life Hotel California is about the industry, that will take you in with record deals and never let out of the contract. The bands become the illuminati slaves stuck for life. The Eagles use Hotel California to describe it. Drugs have nothing to do with it.<br /> <br /> Bob Dillon talks about it on an interview On YouTube. Something about how he made a deal with a higher power, and has to keep up his end of the bargain. The god of here and the other place.
"Ventura Highway" became Homecoming's lead track and first single. This breezy vignette by Bunnell became one of America's signature tunes. "It was about leaving," Dewey says. "It reminds me of the time I lived in Omaha as a kid and how we'd walk through cornfields and chew on pieces of grass. There were cold winters, and I had images of going to California. So I think in the song I'm talking to myself, frankly: 'How long you gonna stay here, Joe?' I really believe that 'Ventura Highway' has the most lasting power of all my songs. It's not just the words--the song and the track have a certain fresh, vibrant, optimistic quality that I can still respond to.
America member Dewey Bunnell wrote this song. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times October 1, 2006, he explained: "It was 1963 when I was in seventh grade, we got a flat tire and we're standing on the side of the road and I was staring at this highway sign. It said 'Ventura' on it and it just stuck with me. It was a sunny day and the ocean there, all of it."
Regarding the lyrics, "Seasons crying no despair, alligator lizards in the air," Bunnell said: "The clouds. It's my brother and I standing there on the side of the road looking at the shapes of clouds while my dad changed the tire."
There's no official "Ventura Highway," but Ventura is a county in California, and Highway 101 runs through it.
Actually, around Ventura the 101 is referred to as the "Ventura Freeway" nowadays. And I believe back in the 60's it actually was called the Ventura Highway. Just had its name changed to freeway when it got bigger.
The title prompted me to look at an atlas and find it. It didn't stop after that.
I think its state hwy 126 that runs from roughly piru, ca to ventura through fillmore and santa paula -- the 101 wouldn't be ventra hwy since it runs up the entire california coast, and you cant locate "ventura hwy" with google now, maybe, because a few years ago it was renamed -- now it's called "korean war veterans memorial highway", which obviously does not do so well in lyrics, haha
@leonardo217 <br /> <br /> Aha! Clouds!<br /> So thats what alligator lizards are!<br /> thx<br /> Great tune for driving around in the summer with the windows down.
number 1 on my iTunes most played, theres such a melancholy, optimistic vbe to the guitars and lyrics go so well together
Sounds like the saga of two hitchers/train-tramps , bound for nowhere and defined only by the freedom of their experience. However, Joe has become settled and his pal is pleading for him to hit the road again. Maybe even just two desires in the same person. A multi-generational classic that appeals to all who have been pulled apart by freedom and commitment.
One of my all-time favorite songs.
I wonder, why the shift in person? I have to believe that Joe is the narrator. Is he talking to himself? Or mimicking something another has said. I love those lines where he sort of asks and answers himself.
My classic ' Escape ' song... Very simple. Wanting to be somewhere else. Wanting to go home or to a special place where one finds inner peace. Excellent piece of writing, as in the opening verse, wandering around engaging in self dialogue: " Tell me, how long you gonna stay here Joe? " Dismissing criticisms of the place itself or the motive for wanting to be there: ' Some people say this town don't look good in snow - you don't care, I know." Second verse basically describes the feeling of restlessness while caught up in mundane, everyday existence ( purple rain ) and hoping for some kind of intervention ( wishing on a falling star ) Moving to a curt response to those who will say ' hey, it's not so bad where you are if you look at it differently ' - (Thanks a lot son , just the same )
Chorus simply tells of all the good feeling in that special place. The free wind, days surround your daylight, no despair. Alligator lizards can be interpreted in any way, as in a special thing in this place that nowhere else has.
Substitute ' Bellarine ' for ' Ventura ' and it's the perfect lyric, played very very loud and very often in my little part of the world.
I still have a couple of real questions about this song. This is the first mention lyrically (long before Prince considered it) of "purple rain." What is purple rain?? Then, my second question is what the heck does he mean by "alligator lizards in the air"????
@beachdoc he means clouds (shaped like alligators or lizards)
@beachdoc Bunnell explained that alligator lizards in the air were shapes made by passing clouds on a sunny day when he was a kid. But I always assumed that being struck by "purple rain" meant that he had hit some good acid and was literally "tripping" while waiting for a metaphorical "early train". That's the kind of thing that can run through your mind while on L.S.D. It also explains why he may have been having a conversation with himself. One part of him wanting to run away from his current situation..."Aw, come on Joe, you can always change your name." But the other more rational part of his mind says that's not really what he wants to do, "Thanks a lot son, just the same." Back in those days various batches of L.S.D. were often given distinct names like "Orange Doubledomes", or "Owsleys", or whatever. I never heard of "Purple Rain" myself, but it sure sounds like a nick name for acid to me, and that's what I've always thought when I hear that lyric.
@beachdoc He is tripping on LSD; my husband says that is what they call sewing needles out there, so perhaps it is both the acid and the flying bugs in the air! Also, purple rain is the name of LSD, I will bet. We used to call it Purple MicroDot back in the early '70s. Hope this helps.
Purple Rain:
n. A restless feeling. A non-descript feeling of boredom, restlessness and confinement. A feeling one has when wanting to escape from responsibility (chiefly emotional) by travelling. Sometimes synonymous with 'wanderlust.' The desire to travel in order to escape an emotional commitment.
Very easily one of my favourite songs of all time, and I'm not one much for older music. I think it's easy for a lot of people to identify with this song... I'm just another helpless victim.