Way Out of Here

Album: Fear of a Blank Planet (2007)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song is about a girl who is contemplating suicide. Porcupine Tree lead singer Steven Wilson described it in his Songfacts interview as "a song about escape in all its myriad forms, both negative and positive," adding, "Obviously, the most negative form being suicide."
  • An inspiration for this song was the story of two Wisconsin girls who apparently killed themselves in a suicide pact. Arielle Daniel, 17, and Heather Bates, 14, were struck by an Amtrak train on November 12, 2005 in what was ruled a suicide, but was possibly an accident. Daniel was a huge Porcupine Tree fan and created the band's MySpace page - it was reported that she was listening to Porcupine Tree on her iPod when she died.

    "She also became a part of that song," Wilson told us. "The idea was very disturbing to me, that there were young people that would seek escape through such brutal, extreme means. So that was also in there."
  • Lasse Hoile, an artist who was a frequent Porcupine Tree collaborator, made a video for this song depicting Arielle Daniel amongst the train tracks.
  • Robert Fripp, famous for his work with King Crimson, is credited on this track for "soundscapes."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Jon Oliva of Trans-Siberian OrchestraSongwriter Interviews

Writing great prog metal isn't easy, especially when it's for 60 musicians.

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe WhiteSongwriter Interviews

The writer of "Rainy Night in Georgia" and "Polk Salad Annie" explains how he cooks up his Louisiana swamp rock.

Early Days of MTV

Early Days of MTVFact or Fiction

If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.