Follow This Highway: Lyrics and the Story Behind the Song

I love Sedona, Arizona. Red rocks, green vegetation, named after a woman (Sedona Miller Schnebly, the wife of the city’s first postmaster, who was celebrated for her hospitality and industriousness). This city is full of art galleries, host to an international film festival, and home to many artists, healers, and alternative thinkers. I stayed there only briefly, but it really left its mark on me—so much so that years later, I wrote a song about it—the canyons, the blue sky, the winding roads with the mountains rising up beside them—breathtaking.

Featured on NPR’s Car Talk

Show 1040: The Dr. Pepper Experiment
Show 1541: The Case of the Disappearing Pedals

Song Lyrics

I’m leaving. Gonna pack my car.
Gonna drive real far—
down the blacktop tar.
I’m travelin’. Gonna see the sights.
Gonna drive all night—
keep the headlights bright.
Gonna make some real plans.
Gonna see some new lands.
Take a steady hand home.

Chorus
Follow this highway
through the canyon
where the red rocks glow.
Wind through the forest.
Trace the rim edge
where the pine trees grow.
And, this is what I know—
gonna make this my home.

I’m watchin’ the eagles fly,
the clouds drift by,
gonna be a blue sky.
Still drivin. Gonna be there soon.
Gonna beat the moon.
We’ll have the afternoon.
Gonna make some real plans.
Gonna see some new lands.
Take a steady hand home.

Chorus
Follow this highway
through the canyon
where the red rocks glow.
Wind through the forest.
Trace the rim edge
where the pine trees grow.
And, this is what I know—
this is what I know—
this is what I know—
Gonna make this my home.
Gonna make this my home.

Song Credits

Holly Hanson: vocals
Steve Hayes: background vocals, acoustic guitar, Nashville-tuned guitar, electric guitar
Sven Larson: upright bass
Mark Thayer: percussion

Written by Holly Hanson. © 2011 Wild Braid Music (BMI). All rights reserved.

Follow This Highway appears on the album Strawberry Moon by Neptune's Car.