‘Highway Star’ is a song by the English rock band Deep Purple. It is the opening track on the band's sixth studio album Machine Head (1972) and is the fastest tempo song on the album. It is characterised by long, classically-inspired guitar and organ solos. The guitar solo would gain recognition when readers of Guitar World voted it No. 15 in their list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos".
This song was born on a tour bus going to Portsmouth in 1971 when a reporter asked the band how they wrote songs. To demonstrate, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore grabbed an acoustic guitar and began playing a riff consisting of a single "G" repeated over and over, while vocalist Ian Gillan improvised lyrics over the top. Ritchie Blackmore's guitar solo on this track was ranked #15 on Guitar World magazine's 2008 list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Solos. In the issue, Blackmore explained how he did it: "I wrote that out note for note about a week before we recorded it. I wanted it to sound like someone driving in a fast car, for it to be one of those songs you would listen to while speeding. And I wanted a very definite Bach sound, which is why I wrote it out – and why I played those very rigid arpeggios across that very familiar Bach progression
The song was refined and was performed that same night. The song first appeared on the 1972 LP Machine Head and remained one of the band's live concert staples, being the set opener even before it was released on any album. Record World said of the U.S. single release that "This mover has a Led Zeppelin tint to it, and that could bring group back to the top of the pops."
This adrenaline-fueled rocker is about a man and his love for his high-powered car, which he says can out-race anything else on the road. It spawned a sub-genre known as "speed metal," a division of heavy metal later popularized by bands such as Motörhead and Metallica. The song is responsible for many speeding tickets.
Labels – EMI (UK), Warner Bros. (US)
Songwriters – Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice
Producers – Deep Purple
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Nobody gonna take my car
I'm gonna race it to the ground
Nobody gonna beat my car
It's gonna break the speed of sound
Ooh, it's a killing machine
It's got everything
Like a driving power
Big fat tires and everything
[Pre-Chorus]
I love it
And I need it
I bleed it
[Chorus]
Yeah, it's a wild hurricane
Alright, hold tight
I'm a highway star
[Verse 2]
Nobody gonna take my girl
I'm gonna keep her to the end
Nobody gonna have my girl
She stays close on every bend
Ooh, she's a killing machine
She's got everything
Like a moving mouth
Body control and everything
[Pre-Chorus]
I love her
I need her
I see her
[Chorus]
Yeah, she turns me on
Alright, hold tight
I'm a highway star
[Organ Solo]
[Verse 3]
Nobody gonna take my head
I got speed inside my brain
Nobody gonna steal my head
Now that I'm on the road again
Ooh, I'm in heaven again
I've got everything
Like a moving ground
An open road and everything
[Pre-Chorus]
I love it
And I need it
I seed it
[Chorus]
Eight cylinders, all mine
Alright, hold tight
I'm a highway star
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 4]
Nobody gonna take my car
I'm gonna race it to the ground
Nobody gonna beat my car
It's gonna break the speed of sound
Ooh, it's a killing machine
It's got everything
Like a driving power
Big fat tires and everything
[Pre-Chorus]
I love it
And I need it
I bleed it
[Chorus]
Yeah, it's a mad hurricane
Alright, hold tight
I'm a highway star
I'm a highway star
I'm a highway star