Talk:AC/DC:Highway to Hell
From Lyriki
Hi, I posted the first lyrics to this song and wanted to explain a few things.
I actually agonized a bit over whether to use proper wording, or go with the feeling as it was sung. I'm a huge AC/DC fan since I can remember so I want to do their songs justice. Here's the reasoning I settled on...
If a contraction was clearly used ("Don't need reason, don't need rhyme"), I used it here. Nonexistent contractions ("Like a wheel, gonna spin it") I decided against. Even though reading it as "Like a wheel, going to spin it" sounds hokey, one has to draw a line somewhere, or not at all. Then we have the issue of dropping the letter G and how to handle it. I chose not to handle it at all, regardless of how silly it might sound ("Livin' easy, livin' free" is just so much cooler sounding than "Living easy, living free", but there you go). The problem with using exact utterances is that people will tend to disagree on how they hear certain things, such as the trademark Bon Scott "ayy" sound (and how to write it). For those reasons, I simply dropped everything that wasn't a clear word.
For what it's worth, here's what I came up with when thinking from the other side:
Livin' easy, livin' free
Season ticket on a one-way ride
Askin' nothin', leave me be
Takin' everything in my stride
Don't need reason, don't need rhyme
Ain't nothin' I'd rather do
Goin' down, party time
My friends are gonna be there too
Yeah...
I'm on the highway to hell
On the highway to hell
Highway to hell
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 around
Hey Satan, payin' my dues
Playin' in a rockin' band
Hey Momma, look at me
I'm on my way to the promised land
Whoa!
I'm on the highway to hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
Highway to hell
Mmmm...
Don't stop me!
Eh, eh, ow!
I'm on the highway to hell
On the highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
On the highway to...
Hell!
I'm on the highway to hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
And I'm going down all the way
Whoa!
We're on the highway to hell
Obviously I went with the more proper english.
I hope I've conveyed my desire to treat these lyrics seriously. I'd welcome any differing opinions on how best to handle AC/DC's stuff.
- I avoid dropping off the g's, simply because of how often it's done. I do write 'gonna' though. --MindlessXD 22:15, 12 April 2006 (PDT)
