AC/DC - Highway To Hell

Highway To Hell Lyric

Living easy, living free
Season ticket on a one-way ride
Asking nothing, leave me be
Taking everything in my stride
Don't need reason, don't need rhyme
Ain't nothing I would rather do
Going down, party time
My friends are gonna be there too

I'm on the highway to hell

No stop signs, speed limit
Nobody's gonna slow me down
Like a wheel, gonna spin it
Nobody's gonna mess me round
Hey Satan, payed my dues
Playing in a rocking band
Hey Momma, look at me
I'm on my way to the promised land

I'm on the highway to hell
(Don't stop me)

And I'm going down, all the way down
I'm on the highway to hell

Song Notes : The title is often attributed as a phrase AC/DC guitarist Angus Young used to describe touring in America. There is a much more literal explanation, however. Highway to Hell was the nickname for the Canning Highway in Australia. It runs from where lead singer Bon Scott lived in Fremantle and ends at a pub/bar called The Raffles, which was a big Rock 'n Roll drinking hole in the '70s. As Canning Highway gets close to the pub, it dips down into a steep decline: "No stop signs... speed limits... nobody gonna slow me down." So many people where killed by driving fast over that intersection at the top of the hill on the way for a good night out, that it was called the highway to hell, so when Bon was saying "I'm on the highway to hell" it meant that he was doing the nightly or weekly pilgrimage down Canning Highway to The Raffles bar to rock and drink with his mates: "Ain't nothing I would rather do. Going down, party time, my friends are gonna be there too."

"This was the first AC/DC song to chart in the US. It helped drive huge sales for the Highway To Hell album, which has sold over 7 million copies in the US. It was AC/DC's sixth album, and their last with vocalist Bon Scott, who died in 1980 from excessive drinking. Their next album, Back In Black, was dedicated to him"

"Recorded in London, Highway To Hell was the first AC/DC album recorded outside of Australia. The album cover had Angus Young on the cover wearing his schoolboy uniform and devil horns. Some religious groups found this quite offensive"

Serial killer Richard Ramirez claimed this album compelled him to murder. He believed AC/DC stood for "Anti Christ/Devil's Child."

AC/DC performed this at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony when they were inducted in 2003. Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler inducted them, saying, "There is no greater purveyor of the power chord."