Ventura Highway
Written by Dewey Bunnell, ©1972
Found on Homecoming, History, America Live, America's Gold, Live In Central Park, America In Concert (85), Ventura Highway And Other Favorites, The Very Best Of America, America In Concert (95), Horse With No Name, You Can Do Magic, Premium Gold Collection, Centenary Collection, Live, Highway, Hits You Remember Live, The Definitive America, The Complete Greatest Hits, Homecoming-DVD-Audio, The Grand Cayman Concert, and Here & Now.

Chewing on a piece of grass
Walking down the road
Tell me, how long you gonna stay here, Joe?
Some people say this town don't look good in snow
You don't care, I know

Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger than moonshine
You're gonna go I know

'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying no despair
Alligator lizards in the air, in the air

Did di di di dit ...

Wishin' on a falling star
Waitin' for the early train
Sorry boy, but I've been hit by purple rain
Aw, come on, Joe, you can always
Change your name
Thanks a lot, son, just the same

Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger than moonshine
You're gonna go I know

'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying no despair
Alligator lizards in the air, in the air

Did di di di dit ...

Highway Highlight (from the box set booklet) "Ventura Highway" became Homecoming's lead track and first single. This breezy vignette by Bunnell became one of America's signature tunes. "It was about leaving," Dewey says. "It reminds me of the time I lived in Omaha as a kid and how we'd walk through cornfields and chew on pieces of grass. There were cold winters, and I had images of going to California. So I think in the song I'm talking to myself, frankly: 'How long you gonna stay here, Joe?' I really believe that 'Ventura Highway' has the most lasting power of all my songs. It's not just the words--the song and the track have a certain fresh, vibrant, optimistic quality that I can still respond to. That's Gerry and Dan doing a harmony on two guitars [on the intro]. I remember us sitting in a hotel room, and I was playing the chords, and Gerry got that guitar line, and he and Dan worked out that harmony part. That's really the hook of the song." "Ventura Highway" went on to become a #8 single for the group. The tune won many fans, including a certain wrestler-turned-politician: "We went and played at [Governor] Jesse Ventura's inaugural out in Minneapolis. He asked us to--his wife is a horse lady, and she'd always loved 'A Horse With No Name,' and he had adopted this name, Ventura. So when he put together his cast of characters for his big inaugural celebration, he wanted us to come and play two songs, which we did."