Interstate Love Song

"Interstate Love Song" is a song by American rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Released in 1994, the song is from the band's second studio album, Purple. Considered one of the band's biggest hits, "Interstate Love Song" reached number one on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart on September 17, 1994, replacing the band's previous single "Vasoline". The song stayed at number one for 15 weeks, a record at the time, and gave STP 17 consecutive weeks at number one with both songs. It also peaked at number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and in Iceland, as well as number 20 in Canada.

"Interstate Love Song"
Single by Stone Temple Pilots
from the album Purple
B-side"Lounge Fly"
ReleasedSeptember 9, 1994
Recorded1994
Genre
Length3:14
LabelAtlantic
Songwriter(s)Music: Robert DeLeo
Lyrics: Scott Weiland
Producer(s)Brendan O'Brien
Stone Temple Pilots singles chronology
"Vasoline"
(1994)		 "Interstate Love Song"
(1994)		 "Pretty Penny"
(1995)
Audio sample
"Interstate Love Song"
  • file
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Music video
"Interstate Love Song" on YouTube

In 2003, "Interstate Love Song" was featured on the greatest hits compilation Thank You. In 2009, it was named the 58th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.[1] The song was ranked at number 17 on Australian alternative music station Triple J's Hottest 100 countdown of 1994. In the UK, the song peaked at number 53. "Interstate Love Song" is praised as one of the best songs of the 1990s.[2]

Background, recording and release

Bassist Robert DeLeo brought in a song he had been working on when Stone Temple Pilots convened at Cole Rehearsal Studios in Hollywood, California in March 1992. His brother, guitarist Dean DeLeo, said, "We were in Atlanta touring Core, and Robert was playing around with the chords and the melody in a hotel room. I had a feeling about that song immediately." Robert DeLeo stated it was originally a bossa nova song when he began writing it. When he played it for singer Scott Weiland, the vocalist started humming along and turned what was originally the melody for the song's intro into a chorus melody.[3] The song borrows chords directly from Jim Croce's 1973 song "I Got a Name." As a title, "Interstate Love Song" may refer to this borrowing; the chorus of "I've Got a Name" begins, "Moving me down the highway, rolling me down the highway." The word "interstate" as a noun is usually short for "interstate highway."

Stone Temple Pilots recorded the song during sessions for Purple at the Southern Tracks studio in Atlanta, Georgia. Weiland was able to complete his vocals for the song in one take.[3]

Upon its release as a single, "Interstate Love Song" reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay and number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, where it stayed for fifteen weeks.[3] The song also reached number two on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and number 22 on the Top 40 Mainstream.[4]

Composition

According to Weiland, the song dealt lyrically with a number of themes, particularly "honesty, lack of honesty, my new relationship with heroin." At the time he was having relationship troubles with his girlfriend, as he was using heroin while recording Purple but told her he no longer was.[3] "She'd ask how I was doing, and I'd lie, say I was doing fine," he admits in his autobiography Not Dead and Not For Sale. "I imagined what was going through her mind when I wrote, 'Waiting on a Sunday afternoon for what I read between the lines, your lies, feelin' like a hand in rusted chain, so do you laugh or does it cry? Reply?"[5]

The song has been described as grunge,[6][7][8] alternative rock,[7][9][10] hard rock[1] and country rock.[8][10]

Music video

The music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake, has a washed-out color effect throughout the majority of the video and features a long-nosed protagonist escaping from an unseen pursuer. The protagonist's nose grows longer throughout the video (similar to Pinocchio), to symbolize the theme of lying in the song lyrics. At the beginning of the video, an early 1900s silent film-esque clip of the protagonist is shown.

Track listing
  1. "Interstate Love Song" - 03:16
  2. "Lounge Fly" - 05:19
  3. "Vasoline" [Live] - 03:16
  4. "Interstate Love Song" [Live] - 03:20

Charts

Weekly charts
Charts (1994–1995) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[11] 50
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[12] 20
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[13] 2
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 47
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[15] 52
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[16] 53
UK Rock and Metal (Official Charts Company)[17] 9
US Radio Songs (Billboard)[18] 18
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[19] 2
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[20] 1
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[21] 22

Year-end charts
Charts (1994) Position
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40)[22] 69
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References
  1. "spreadit.org music". Archived from the original on August 27, 2010. Retrieved February 7, 2009.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  2. "Stone Temple Pilots' 'Interstate Love Song' Was One of the Best Songs of the '90s". Spin. 2015-12-04. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  3. "The Greatest Songs Ever! Interstate Love Song". Blender. September 2005. Retrieved on July 31, 2008.
  4. Stone Temple Pilots - Charts & Awards - Billboard singles. Allmusic.com. Retrieved on August 6, 2008.
  5. Not Dead and Not For Sale (Scribner, 2010), pp111–112
  6. Michael, Danaher (August 4, 2014). "The 50 Best Grunge Songs". Paste. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
  7. True, Chris. "Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  8. "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 200-151". Pitchfork. p. 3. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  9. Yglesias, Matthew (May 21, 2007). "The Ultimate Nineties Alt-Rock Playlist". The Atlantic. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
  10. Siegler, M.G. (December 4, 2015). "Leaving On a Southern Train… RIP Scott Weiland". 500ish. Medium. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  11. "Australian-charts.com – Stone Temple Pilots – Interstate Love Song". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  12. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2655." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  13. "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (27.10–2.11 '94)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). October 27, 1994. p. 16. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  14. "Charts.nz – Stone Temple Pilots – Interstate Love Song". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  15. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  16. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  17. "Official Rock & Metal Singles Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  18. "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  19. "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  20. "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  21. "Stone Temple Pilots Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  22. "Árslistinn 1994". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). January 2, 1995. p. 25. Retrieved May 30, 2020.
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