"Interstate Love Song" is a single by American rock band

Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots (also known by the initialism STP) is an American rock band from San Diego, California, that originally consisted of Scott Weiland (lead vocals), brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass, backing vocals), and Eric Kretz ...

. Released in September 1994, the song is from the band's second studio album, ''

Purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, pu ...

''. Considered one of the band's biggest hits, "Interstate Love Song" reached number one on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' Album Rock Tracks chart (current Mainstream Rock) 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 the Stone Temple Pilots 17 consecutive weeks at number one with both songs. It also peaked at number two on the ''Billboard''

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart and in Iceland, as well as number 20 in Canada. "Interstate Love Song" has been praised as one of the best songs of the 1990s and was featured on STP's greatest hits compilation ''

Thank You "''Thank you''" (often expanded to ''thank you very much'' or ''thanks a lot'', or informally abbreviated to ''thanks'' or alternately as ''many thanks''Geoffrey Leech, ''The Pragmatics of Politeness'' (2014), p. 200.) is a common expression of ...

'' in 2003. In 2009, it was named the 58th best hard rock song of all time by VH1. The song was ranked at number 17 on Australian alternative music station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

's Hottest 100 countdown of 1994 and ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' ranked it at number 175 on its list of "The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s."

Background, recording and release

Bassist

Robert DeLeo Robert Emile DeLeo (born February 2, 1966) is an American musician, songwriter and producer, best known as the bassist for rock band Stone Temple Pilots. He is part of Delta Deep and he has also played in Talk Show and Army of Anyone. He is th ...

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 Dean DeLeo (born August 23, 1961) is an American guitarist known for his work with rock band Stone Temple Pilots. DeLeo is also known for his role in the short-lived bands Talk Show and Army of Anyone. He is the older brother of Robert DeLeo, ...

, said, "We were in Atlanta touring ''

Core Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the centra ...

'', 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 Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovativ ...

song when he began writing it. When he played it for singer

Scott Weiland Scott Richard Weiland (; né Kline, October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. During a career spanning three decades, Weiland was best known as the lead singer of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots from 1 ...

, the vocalist started humming along and turned what was originally the melody for the song's intro into a chorus melody.The Greatest Songs Ever! Interstate Love Song
. ''Blender''. September 2005. Retrieved on July 31, 2008. The song borrows chords directly from Jim Croce's 1973 song "

I Got a Name ''I Got a Name'' is the fifth and final studio album and first posthumous release by American singer-songwriter, Jim Croce, released on December 1, 1973. It features the ballad " I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song", which reached number 9 in t ...

." Stone Temple Pilots recorded the song during sessions for ''Purple'' at the Southern Tracks studio in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia. Weiland was able to complete his vocals for the song in one take. Upon its release as a single, "Interstate Love Song" reached number 18 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 Airplay The Radio Songs chart (previously named Hot 100 Airplay until 2014 and Top 40 Radio Monitor until 1991) is released weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine and measures the airplay of songs being played on radio stations throughout ...

and number one on the

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart, where it stayed for fifteen weeks. The song also reached number two on the

chart and number 22 on the Top 40 Mainstream. In 2015, ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

'' and ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'' ranked the song number one and number two, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Stone Temple Pilots songs.

Composition

According to Weiland, the song was about the troubles he was having with his girlfriend, Jannina, saying, "The words are about the lies I was trying to conceal while making the ''Purple'' record". "She'd ask how I was doing, and I'd lie, say I was doing fine," he wrote 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 shame, so do you laugh or does it cry? Reply?'" The song has been described as

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

, and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

Music video

The music video, directed by

Kevin Kerslake Kevin Kerslake is an American filmmaker and photographer. He has directed documentaries on Joan Jett ('' Bad Reputation''), DJ AM (''As I AM: The Life and Times of DJ AM''), The Ramones (''We're Outta Here!''), Nirvana (''Live! Tonight! Sold Out! ...

, 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 Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

), to symbolize the theme of lying in the song lyrics. At the beginning of the video, an early 1900s

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

-esque clip of the protagonist is shown.

Track listing

#"Interstate Love Song" – 03:16 #"Lounge Fly" – 05:19 #" Vasoline" ive– 03:16 #"Interstate Love Song" ive– 03:20

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1994 singles 1994 songs Atlantic Records singles Music videos directed by Kevin Kerslake Song recordings produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer) Songs about heroin Songs written by Robert DeLeo Songs written by Scott Weiland Stone Temple Pilots songs