Carefree Highway (song)

"Carefree Highway" is a song written by Gordon Lightfoot and was second single release from his 1974 album, Sundown. The song peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent one week at #1 on the Easy Listening chart in October 1974.^[1]

The song's name comes from a section of Arizona State Route 74 in north Phoenix. Said Lightfoot, "I thought it would make a good title for a song. I wrote it down, put it in my suitcase and it stayed there for eight months."^[2] The song employs "Carefree Highway" as a metaphor for the state of mind where the singer seeks escape from his ruminations over a long ago failed affair with a woman named Ann. Lightfoot has stated that Ann actually was the name of a woman Lightfoot romanced when he was age 22:^[2] "It [was] one of those situations where you meet that one woman who knocks you out and then leaves you standing there and says she's on her way."^[3]

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1974)	Peak position
Australian KMR^[4]	74
Canadian RPM Top Singles^[5]	11
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary ^[6]	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks ^[7]	1
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	10
U.S. Billboard Easy Listening	1
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	81

Year-end charts

Chart (1974)	Rank
Canada ^[8]	121
U.S. (Joel Whitburn's Pop Annual)^[9]	102

Preceded by "Stop and Smell the Roses" by Mac Davis	Billboard Easy Listening Singles number-one single by Gordon Lightfoot October 19, 1974	Succeeded by "Back Home Again" by John Denver
Preceded by "I Honestly Love You" by Olivia Newton-John	RPM Country Tracks number-one single November 30, 1974	Succeeded by "Country Is" by Tom T. Hall

References

↑ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 146.
1 2 Naglin, Nancy. "After "Sundown" Gordon Lightfoot makes up for lost time". Crawdaddy (April 1975). Retrieved March 27, 2014.
↑ William R. Weiss (1999-01-04). "Gordon Lightfoot - Songbook Liner Notes / Poems". Lightfoot.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
↑ "RPM Top Singles for November 23, 1974". RPM. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
↑ "RPM Adult Contemporary for October 12, 1974". RPM. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
↑ "RPM Country Tracks for November 30, 1974". RPM. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
↑ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.

External links

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

Gordon Lightfoot

Band musicians	Rick Haynes Barry Keane Mike Heffernan Carter Lancaster

Former members	Red Shea John Stockfish Terry Clements Pee Wee Charles

Albums	Lightfoot! (1966) The Way I Feel (1967) Did She Mention My Name? (1968) Back Here on Earth (1968) Sunday Concert (live) (1969) Sit Down Young Stranger (1970) Summer Side of Life (1971) Don Quixote (1972) Old Dan's Records (1972) Sundown (1974) Cold on the Shoulder (1975) Summertime Dream (1976) Endless Wire (1978) Dream Street Rose (1980) Shadows (1982) Salute (1983) East of Midnight (1986) Waiting for You (1993) A Painter Passing Through (1998) Harmony (2004) All Live (live) (2012)

Compilations	Early Lightfoot (1969) The Best of Gordon Lightfoot (1970) Classic Lightfoot (1971) The Very Best of Gordon Lightfoot (1974) The Very Best of Gordon Lightfoot, Vol. 2 (1975) Gord's Gold (1975) Early Morning Rain (1976) Songbook (1985) Gord's Gold Volume 2 (1988) The Best of Gordon Lightfoot (1989) The Original Lightfoot (1992) The United Artists Collection (1993) Songbook (1999) Complete Greatest Hits (2002)

Singles	"(Remember Me) I'm the One" (1962) "It's Too Late, He Wins/Negotiations" (1962) "Adios, Adios" (1962) "Day Before Yesterday" (1963) "I'm Not Sayin'" (1965) "Ribbon of Darkness" (1965) "Spin Spin" (1966) "Go Go Round" (1966) "The Way I Feel" (1967) "Canadian Railroad Trilogy" (1967) "Black Day in July" (1968) "Bitter Green" (1968) "Me and Bobby McGee" (1970) "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970) "If I Could" (1971) "Talking in Your Sleep" (1971) "Summer Side of Life" (1971) "Beautiful" (1972) "Alberta Bound" (1972) "You Are What I Am" (1972) "The Same Old Obsession" (1972) "Can't Depend on Love" (1973) "It's Worth Believin'" (1973) "Sundown" (1974) "Carefree Highway" (1974) "Rainy Day People" (1975) "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976) "Race Among the Ruins" (1976) "The Circle Is Small (I Can See It in Your Eyes)" (1977) "Daylight Katy" (1978) "Dreamland" (1978) "Dream Street Rose" (1980) "If You Need Me" (1980) "Baby Step Back" (1981) "Blackberry Wine" (1982) "In My Fashion" (1982) "Salute (A Lot More Livin' to Do)" (1983) "Without You" (1983) "Anything for Love" (1986) "Stay Loose" (1986) "East of Midnight" (1987) "Ecstasy Made Easy" (1987) "I'll Prove My Love" (1993) "Waiting for You" (1993) "A Painter Passing Through" (1998) "Inspiration Lady" (2004)

Related articles	Discography Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot

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