"Carefree Highway" is a song written by

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...

and was the second single release from his 1974 album, '' Sundown''. It peaked at No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and spent one week at No. 1 on the

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

chart in October 1974. The title comes from a section of

Arizona State Route 74 Arizona State Route 74 (SR 74), locally known as the Carefree Highway, is a state highway in central Arizona that stretches east to west from its junction with U.S. Route 60 (US 60) just south of Wickenburg to its junction with Inter ...

in north

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. 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." 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: "It asone 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."

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Lyrics of this song
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carefree Highway (Song) 1974 singles Gordon Lightfoot songs Songs written by Gordon Lightfoot Song recordings produced by Lenny Waronker 1974 songs Reprise Records singles