Wide Open Road (song)
| "Wide Open Road" | ||||||||
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| Single by The Triffids | ||||||||
| from the album Born Sandy Devotional | ||||||||
| B-side | "Time of Weakness" | |||||||
| Released | February 1986 | |||||||
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| Recorded | August 1985 Mark Angelo Studios, London | |||||||
| Genre | Folk rock | |||||||
| Length | 4:08 | |||||||
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| Writer(s) | David McComb | |||||||
| Producer(s) | Gil Norton | |||||||
| The Triffids singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Wide Open Road" is a single released in 1986 by Australian folk rock band The Triffids from their album Born Sandy Devotional. It was produced by Gil Norton (Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen, Foo Fighters) and written by David McComb on vocals, keyboards and guitar. The B-side "Time of Weakness" was recorded live at the Graphic Arts Club, Sydney, November 1985 by Mitch Jones, mixed by Rob Muir (in Perth). "Dear Miss Lonely Hearts" was recorded at Planet Sound Studios, Perth and produced by the Triffids. "Wide Open Road" reached No. 26 on the UK Singles Chart in 1986, and No. 64 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. In May 2001 the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), as part of its 75th Anniversary celebrations, named "Wide Open Road" as one of the Top 30 Australian songs of all time.
The Triffids had toured Europe in 1985 and were based in London but they were unable to raise a major record deal and with a lack of finances, their second studio album Born Sandy Devotional was recorded there in August 1985 with Gil Norton producing (fresh from working with Echo & the Bunnymen). They released two versions of "Wide Open Road", a 7” version and a 12” version. The B-side, "Time of Weakness", was recorded live at the Graphic Arts Club, Sydney. The album reached No. 27 on the UK charts and the single peaked at No. 26 on the UK charts: while only reaching No. 64 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. The song was written by David McComb, who described the process:
I started the song at Julian Wu's house in Melbourne. Ah, the end of a beautiful era [...] One morning I sat bolt upright in bed and virtually all the lyrics appeared instantly. I just tried to keep it as blunt and direct as possible, even if the results made myself or the listener squirm [...] I finished the music at a sound-check somewhere in Europe. Like the rest of the Born Sandy Devotional album, it seemed to naturally evoke a particular landscape, namely the stretch of highway in between Caiguna and Norseman, where the Triffids' Hi-Ace monotonously came to grief with kangaroos.
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