Album: Foolish
Year: 1994
. . .
It’s always difficult when the people who founded a band — who founded anything, really — break up. Oft times, it signals the demise of the band, as they realize that the need for full separation outweighs everything else. Other times, though, they soldier on, which is what happened with Superchunk as singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan and bassist Laura Ballance broke up as Superchunk was working on their fourth album, 1994’s Foolish.
Honestly, I have no idea what happened: they were a couple. They founded Superchunk. They founded Merge Records. They broke up, and both Superchunk and Merge Records remained going concerns. Everything else would be speculation on my part, up to and including whether or not any of the songs on Foolish and the subsequent albums were about the breakup, though Ballance has discussed how difficult it was to tour Foolish.
Which makes sense, given a song like “Driveway to Driveway,” a slow burn based around a long, winding guitar hook from McCaughan, and with lyrics that seem to describe a specific incident.
From stage to stage we flew
A drink in every hand
My hand on your heart had been replaced
And I thought it was you that I had chasedDriveway to driveway drunk
I don’t remember this too well
Glad I still have the scrapes to prove
Prove it was me who fellAnd the names were all we knew
And the names were all erased
Regardless of whether or not it is about something that may or may not have happened, “Driveway to Driveway” captures that sick-to-the-stomach feeling of waking up and realizing that you might not have been on your best behavior the previous night; that you might have said or done things that you weren’t proud of the previous night, even if you’re not exactly sure what those things might have been.
But you’re sure as shit going to end up finding out, as Mac’s jagged guitar solo at the end of the song seems to point out. And you ain’t gonna be happy.
To underscore its point, “Driveway to Driveway” was given an excellent video that was inspired by The Philadelphia Story, maybe the greatest rom-com ever filmed, and a completely on-point reference for what the song was about.
“Driveway to Driveway”
“Driveway to Driveway” Official Music Video
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