 The Singles (1981) [ larger cover art ] |
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In the middle of the road,
Is trying to find me.
I'm standing in the middle of life with my pains behind me.
But, I got a smile
For everyone I meet.
Long as you don't try dragging my bay,
Or dropping a bomb on the street.
Come on baby,
Get in the road.
Come on now,
In the middle of the road, yeah.
In the middle of the road,
You see the darnest things.
Like fat cats driving around in jeeps through the city,
Wearing big diamond rings and silk suits.
Past corrugated tin shacks holed up with kids and
Man I don't mean a Hampstead nursery.
But when you own a big chunk of the bloody third world,
The babies just come with the scenery.
Come on baby,
Get in the road.
Come on now,
In the middle of the road, yeah.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.
In the middle of the road,
Is my private cul de sac.
I can't get from the cab to the curb,
Without some little jerk on my back,
Don't harass me kid,
Can't you tell I'm going home, I'm tired as hell,
I'm not the cat I used to be,
I've got a kid, I'm thirty-three baby.
Get in the road.
Come on now,
In the middle of the road.
| unclehud (now 50 feet above the planet in Boston) | Posted: May 13, 2013 - 11:26 Well, depending on where YOU are in the road, this could be way out there, or at your right hand. Me? I meander all over the road, and this is OUTSTANDING!!!  |
| Webfoot (Eugene, Oregon) | Posted: Apr 18, 2013 - 07:09 Moak wrote: It just hit me now...this could be the best rock n' roll tune ever written. It's more in the middle of the road for me. |
| Moak (Reading, PA) | Posted: Apr 12, 2013 - 05:31 It just hit me now...this could be the best rock n' roll tune ever written. |
| sirdroseph (Yes) | Posted: Mar 30, 2013 - 06:27 redmachine wrote: How ironic. It's called 'middle of the road'. perfect name for it.  |
| drewd | Posted: Mar 17, 2013 - 20:06 rockpommel16 wrote: ....... Rock on Rockpommel !!! .......................... .............................. |
| ziakut (Slightly North of Obvlivion) | Posted: Feb 26, 2013 - 19:33 Not my favorite Pretenders tune...but then again...it's Ms. Hynde...good stuff. |
| t00lur (happy petergabriel free land) | Posted: Feb 14, 2013 - 11:07 Alf! |
| Highlowsel (New York City) | Posted: Feb 08, 2013 - 10:06 "When you own a big chunk of the bloody third world, the babies just come with the scenery." Whoosh! One of the better political statements I've ever heard in a song. Must be the underlying refrain of every oligarch and plutocrat out there these days, eh? So it goes. Highlow American Net'Zen |
| bronorb (Wisconsin) | Posted: Feb 08, 2013 - 10:04 toomanyollys wrote: Just looked up the lyrics and was very disappointed to see it's not "...standing in the middle of life with my pants behind me"... I always thought that was a better line too.  |
| toomanyollys | Posted: Jan 08, 2013 - 01:56 Just looked up the lyrics and was very disappointed to see it's not "...standing in the middle of life with my pants behind me"... |
| ottojschlosser (Beaverton OR (no, really, that's its name)) | Posted: Jan 02, 2013 - 13:28 There is nothing like this drum intro — one of those songs that you recognize 3 seconds in. Always happy to hear this. |
| max_p | Posted: Nov 06, 2012 - 07:31 Election day! middle of the road indeed meet the new boss.... |
| rockpommel16 (rockpommel´s land...near the netherlands) | Posted: Oct 24, 2012 - 11:10 ....... ........................................................ |
| zanref | Posted: Oct 24, 2012 - 11:10 Not sure why but I can't stand this masculine voice with russian accent.... |
| kingart (Brooklyn NY) | Posted: Oct 10, 2012 - 09:35 Smokin'! 120 proof straight neat rock and roll. |
| joelbb | Posted: Oct 05, 2012 - 22:29 Agree w/ all: this is maybe their BEST rocker and it does cook. |
| helgigermany (Germany) | Posted: Sep 30, 2012 - 10:09 this is rock and roll and a good singer! |
| joelbb | Posted: Sep 08, 2012 - 20:17 This cut rocks so good we forgive them for all the drugs, insanity and star-turns. At LEAST a 9. |
| rpdevotee (San Jose, CA) | Posted: Sep 08, 2012 - 20:15  |
| WonderLizard (2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise) | Posted: Sep 04, 2012 - 09:13 Boy_Wonder wrote: I'm afraid James H-S had gone to the Great Gig in the Sky before this was recorded... After Farndon's dismissal from the band and Honeyman-Scott's death, Chrissie Hynde and Martin Chambersinitially recruited Rockpile's Billy Bremner and Big Country's Tony Butler to fill out a caretaker line-up of the band in 1982. Bremner played guitar and Butler played bass on the band's September 1982 single "Back on the Chain Gang/My City Was Gone", both sides of which were later included on Learning to Crawl. As the album sessions got under way, Bremner, The Rumour's Andrew Bodnar, and Paul Carrack (formerly of Squeeze, Ace and Roxy Music) played guitar, bass and piano respectively for the track "Thin Line Between Love and Hate". Finally, Robbie McIntosh (guitar) and Malcolm Foster (bass) were recruited to join Hynde and Chambers, and the band was now officially a quartet. It was this line-up that recorded the majority of the tracks featured on Learning to Crawl. The November 1983 single "2000 Miles/Fast or Slow (The Law's the Law)" was the newly reconstituted foursome's first release, followed shortly by the full Learning to Crawl album in January 1984. And I'm afraid you're dead on—so to speak. One source credits Chambers with the opening and McIntosh with the solo (http://www.coffeerooms.com/bb/showthread.php?t=1432), although Honeyman-Scott's guitar work is found somewhere on the bloody record, 'cos he's credited in the liner notes. Even if it's not JHS, it's a hell of a record, and I'd give it a 10 if Howard the Duck played lead. |
| daedalus (Over your hill) | Posted: Aug 22, 2012 - 10:57 lemmoth wrote: One of their very best. 9 plus Couldn't agree more - well said! Driving, irresistible, unique. |
| lemmoth (NYC) | Posted: Aug 08, 2012 - 09:05 One of their very best. 9 plus |
| Far | Posted: Aug 03, 2012 - 22:08 Very informative. Was 2000 miles a tribute to the 'departed' members ? |
| Boy_Wonder (Bath, back in the UK) | Posted: Jul 09, 2012 - 13:25 I'm afraid James H-S had gone to the Great Gig in the Sky before this was recorded... After Farndon's dismissal from the band and Honeyman-Scott's death, Chrissie Hynde and Martin Chambersinitially recruited Rockpile's Billy Bremner and Big Country's Tony Butler to fill out a caretaker line-up of the band in 1982. Bremner played guitar and Butler played bass on the band's September 1982 single "Back on the Chain Gang/My City Was Gone", both sides of which were later included on Learning to Crawl. As the album sessions got under way, Bremner, The Rumour's Andrew Bodnar, and Paul Carrack (formerly of Squeeze, Ace and Roxy Music) played guitar, bass and piano respectively for the track "Thin Line Between Love and Hate". Finally, Robbie McIntosh (guitar) and Malcolm Foster (bass) were recruited to join Hynde and Chambers, and the band was now officially a quartet. It was this line-up that recorded the majority of the tracks featured on Learning to Crawl. The November 1983 single "2000 Miles/Fast or Slow (The Law's the Law)" was the newly reconstituted foursome's first release, followed shortly by the full Learning to Crawl album in January 1984. |
| Boy_Wonder (Bath, back in the UK) | Posted: Jul 09, 2012 - 13:20 8>9.... go Chrissie!! |
| Keef (Confluence of the American River) | Posted: Jun 20, 2012 - 13:18 olivertwist wrote: Good song, but as the opening notes played I immediately thought how I'd rather hear the great track "Mystery Achievement" from their first album — a song I've yet to hear on RP. I love that song. The whole first album in fact. Lets hear more of it. |
| WonderLizard (2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise) | Posted: Jun 06, 2012 - 04:29 Maybe the perfect rock song, and James Honeyman-Scott to top it off. I thought for a time that "Honeyman" was a nickname 'cos his guitar work was so cool. Probably should have been. |
| unclehud (300 feet above the planet) | Posted: Jan 31, 2012 - 08:55 BikeCoachDave wrote: How time flies, in 5 years Chrissy will be able to sing, "I got a kid THATS 33, baby!" ... and she will still be HOT. Sing it loud, girl! |
| TerryS (Another SW) | Posted: Jan 26, 2012 - 18:39 30 years old and still worth listening to, yessirree |
| olivertwist (Atlanta GA) | Posted: Jan 21, 2012 - 07:21 Good song, but as the opening notes played I immediately thought how I'd rather hear the great track "Mystery Achievement" from their first album — a song I've yet to hear on RP. |
| kurtster (Back in Ohiya, for now ...) | Posted: Jan 13, 2012 - 19:25 MiracleDrug wrote: if you've never seen this live... you probably won't get it... It was pretty nice live. Got to see her here in her hometown opening for the B - 52's at Blossom. Was a full length set, too. Not the 45 minute opening act length. A full 90 minutes. Most wonderful, and so were the B's. |
| rlr511 (Philadelphia) | Posted: Nov 30, 2011 - 11:11  no more pretenders!!!!! please!!!!! |
| fredriley (Nottingham, UK) | Posted: Nov 11, 2011 - 07:53 kayc wrote: And all this time I thought it was "hamster nursery"   |
| ce (the Netherlands) | Posted: Nov 11, 2011 - 07:50 That bassline just made my afternoon good again. Oooooh yes.   |
| That_SOB (In at least 2 places at once) | Posted: Oct 28, 2011 - 06:27 Straight on kick-ass Rock and Roll — it hardly gets any better. At times the lead work sounds like Mike Campbell's driving licks — and that is a good thing ... Keep em coming.. how some folks can bitch about this Made in America driving rock, is beyond the pale. |
| to_the_eleven (the groove) | Posted: Sep 26, 2011 - 13:48 +2 for actually rocking in the 80's. I mean compare this to the two that followed on RP today. Go Go's - This Town New Order - Blue Monday |
| a_genuine_find (not me, Radio P) (3rd stone, sol, orion belt, milkyway) | Posted: Sep 16, 2011 - 15:20 8 for the vocal to harmonica fade end |
| Proclivities (Carrboro, NC) | Posted: Sep 16, 2011 - 15:15 sirdroseph wrote: This is probably in my top 50 great songs that I hope to never hear again. I hate it when that happens. |
| MiracleDrug (Earth) | Posted: Sep 09, 2011 - 07:41 if you've never seen this live... you probably won't get it... |
| sirdroseph (Yes) | Posted: Aug 26, 2011 - 04:38 This is probably in my top 50 great songs that I hope to never hear again. |
| redmachine | Posted: Aug 26, 2011 - 04:37 How ironic. It's called 'middle of the road'. perfect name for it. |
| coloradojohn (Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan -- 15 min. west of Shinjuku, center of the freaking Universe) | Posted: Jul 15, 2011 - 21:32 I think this could and should be played to people in a coma...how could it NOT stimulate something, everything? GOOD GOD IT STILL ROCKS SOLID! I can never forget how when these guys opened for The Who way back in '80, we were prepared to boo and harass whatever act dared keep us from rocking out our angst — and oh, I loved how we were instead DRIVEN INTO A ROLLICKING FRENZY and almost didn't want them to leave by the time they had done their set... LONG LIVE ROCK! |
| helgigermany (Germany) | Posted: Jul 08, 2011 - 13:57 Nice! |
| Sasha2001 (I can see Zabars from my window) | Posted: Jul 08, 2011 - 13:54 Nothing could ruin this song, not even a commercial for Viagra or some other pharmaceutical. Certainly not commercial radio. |
| Poacher (Brighton, UK) | Posted: Jun 24, 2011 - 07:26 sirdroseph wrote: I haven't listened to commercial radio in 20 years. Once a song is ruined, it is ruined. There is no going back.  Then maybe you didn't like it to start with. C'est la Vie. |
| Gatlinburger | Posted: Jun 14, 2011 - 05:07 OK already... We've all heard this close to a million times on the radio... Please stop playing it, it was never that good to start with! |
| sirdroseph (Yes) | Posted: Jun 14, 2011 - 05:06 Poacher wrote: Don't listen to commercial radio. . .simples. I haven't listened to commercial radio in 20 years. Once a song is ruined, it is ruined. There is no going back. |
| BikeCoachDave (Columbia, Ky.) | Posted: May 06, 2011 - 08:19 How time flies, in 5 years Chrissy will be able to sing, "I got a kid THATS 33, baby!" |
| Poacher (Brighton, UK) | Posted: May 06, 2011 - 08:17 sirdroseph wrote: I feel ya, this is a prime example of commercial radio ruining a song.  Don't listen to commercial radio. . .simples. |
| (former member) | Posted: Mar 21, 2011 - 13:29 He's playing "Living in the USA" at the end of that guitar solo, isn't he? Gimme a cheeseburger! |