Background
The song and album's title supposedly came after a reporter asked band members if they could describe what life was like being constantly on tour. Angus replied that it was "a fucking highway to hell". He stated in the magazine Guitar World that when you are out on the road on a bus sleeping with a guy's smelly sock in your face, it's like you're on the highway to hell. However, rumours circulated that the band members were Satanists and the cover of the album named after the song, depicting Angus with devil horns and tail, added fuel to the fire. The band has denied having anything to do with Satanism, with Malcolm Young commenting: "my mum would kill me for that!"
The single spent 45 weeks on the German Singles Chart, even though it peaked at only No. 30, in its 19th week on that chart.
Scott was found dead, in the back of a friend's car, just over six months after the song was released.
The album named after it became the first million-selling album for AC/DC, reaching No. 17 on the American Billboard charts. The success of the song and album cemented the career of AC/DC, which — with new lead singer Brian Johnson — recorded a tribute to Scott, the album Back in Black, a year later.
Johnson has speculated at least twice about the origins of the lyrics. In October 2009, Johnson told British newspaper Metro: "it was written about being on the bus on Mt. Hood Highway in Oregon, USA. When the Sun's setting in the west and you're driving across it, it is like a fire ball. There is nothing to do, except have a quick one off the wrist or a game of cards, so that's where Bon came up with the lyrics." In a 2010 interview in The Sydney Morning Herald on the day of AC/DC's first Black Ice concert in Sydney, Johnson stated that the lyrics were about the 2,000 mile drive from cities like Sydney and Melbourne to Scott's home town of Perth.
According to legend from Scott however, the meaning is similar, yet slightly different from these other theories. Scott used to frequent a bar called the Raffles Hotel in Perth, a very 'Rock n Roll' pub. He frequently would race down Canning Highway, a road with many twists and turns that was notorious for numerous road deaths. Scott saw himself as 'living easy, living free' when he was at Raffles.
Read more about this topic: Highway To Hell (song)
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