Freedom Was A Highway

Album

Bettie James

Label

Stoney Creek

Genre

Country rock

Composer(s)

Ash Bower;Jimmie Allen;Matt Rogers

Entered Chart

Oct 23, 2021

Peak Date

Jan 15, 2022

Released

February 1, 2021

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

Big Machine Records

B-Side

n/a

Jimmie Allen co-wrote this breezy and nostalgic song with his manager/producer Ash Bowers and the songwriter Matt Rogers (Randy Houser's "We Went," Brett Eldredge's "The Long Way"). It finds him singing of being 17 and driving his first car while loved up with the girl next door. When Allen was writing the tune with his co-writers, it reminded him of his teenage days driving down his favorite roads in his home state of Delaware. "This song takes me back to simpler moments such as my innocent, childhood crush on the next-door neighbor or feeling freedom in the wind as you drive with the windows," he said. The song is a duet with Brad Paisley, who contributes both vocals and a guitar solo after the bridge. Paisley said that he used his signature instrument to bring some of his own personality to the track. "I use my guitar to make a record sort of sound like I'm on it even before you hear me sing, and I love this guitar solo," he explained. Allen recorded the song for his Bettie James EP. The record title comes from the names of Allen's grandmother and father, who both passed away. They each had a deep influence on Jimmie's life; the name "Bettie" is on his guitar strap. His father, James "Big Jim" Allen, died in September 2019 at just 65 years old.

(Woo)

Sunset through a windshield, I can see it now
Like a picture in a frame (picture in a frame), oh
Blue jeans and t-shirts, who we were
We wore it like a name (like a name)
I wish I could go back to those days

When the town was the whole world
And love was the girl next door
Soundtrack was a song in the dark
I miss those days when our dreams were there for chasin'
But time was better wasted
We were summer young and livin' for a Friday
And freedom was a highway (highway) (oh)
Freedom was a highway (highway) (oh)

Barbwire on a fence-posts with a cross-wind
On a road no one was on (no one was on), yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah)
Five-deep with our hands up, just singin' along to a hip-hop song
I wish I could rewind and replay

When the town was the whole world
And love was the girl next door
Soundtrack was a song in the dark
I miss those days when our dreams were there for chasin'
But time was better wasted
We were summer young and livin' for a Friday
And freedom was a highway (highway)
Freedom was a highway

When you're seventeen and drivin'
You don't think about the road runnin' out (road runnin' out)
No, no, no, no
You just keep your eyes on that horizon
'Cause you're wrapped up in now (ooh-ooh)

Hey, ooh, yeah
Ooh, yeah, woo

I wish I could go back to those days
When the town was the whole world
And love was the girl next door
Soundtrack was a song in the dark
I miss those days when our dreams were there for chasin'
But time was better wasted
We were summer young and livin' for a Friday
And freedom was a highway (freedom was a highway)
Freedom was a highway, baby, yeah
Freedom was a highway
Freedom was a highway
Freedom was a highway (oh)