Gas Stop

Album: How We Run (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Before Cars is fronted by Chad Channing, who was Nirvana's drummer from 1988-1990. Geography prevented him from doing much writing with Nirvana, since he lived about an hour away from Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic, but he's always had a passion for writing songs.

    "Gas Stop" was inspired by a real story that sounds like it could be a Macaulay Culkin movie. When Chad was six years old, his family was moving, so they packed up in their Ford truck with a camper attached. When they stopped for gas at a small town filling station, Chad was the last out of the bathroom, and discovered that the truck was gone. He told us the story: "I didn't know what to do, so I just walked down for maybe about a block or so and I sat down on the curb next to this telephone pole and sat there wondering what I was going to do next.

    And what had happened is usually one of us kids - I had two sisters with me at the time - would sit up in the cab in the front with my parents, and the other two would sit in the back. So my mom was like, 'Is everybody in?' And my sisters were like, 'Yeah, yeah.' My sisters assumed that I was up front in the cab and my parents thought that I was probably in the back with my sisters. And so hours down the road they realized that I wasn't in the car at all. And my mom about had a heart attack. I don't know how long I was there, but the sun was setting by the time I saw them. And I was still sitting in the same spot." (Here's our full Chad Channing interview.)

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Marvin Gaye

Marvin GayeFact or Fiction

Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song Spoofs

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song SpoofsSong Writing

When singers started spoofing their own songs on Sesame Street, the results were both educational and hilarious - here are the best of them.

Glen Ballard

Glen BallardSongwriter Interviews

Glen Ballard talks about co-writing and producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill album, and his work with Dave Matthews, Aerosmith and Annie Lennox.

Rob Halford of Judas Priest

Rob Halford of Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford dives into some of his Judas Priest lyrics, talking about his most personal songs and the message behind "You've Got Another Thing Comin'."

Matthew Wilder - "Break My Stride"

Matthew Wilder - "Break My Stride"They're Playing My Song

Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.

Sam Phillips

Sam PhillipsSongwriter Interviews

Collaborating with T Bone Burnett, Leslie Phillips changed her name and left her Christian label behind - Robert Plant, who recorded one of her songs on Raising Sand, is a fan.