To The Key Of Evergreen

Album: Transit Blues (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • Mike Hranica recounts here a road trip with a loved one. He told Metal Hammer: "I love the romance of a cross-country drive, the evergreen colors and the beauty and solace found in driving."
  • The song also takes inspiration from Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov's story of a middle-aged literature professor's obsession with a 12-year-old girl. Hranica explained: "I added in a lot of elements of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, one of my favourite novels, because it's so profound. It's controversial given it's based on a love affair between an older man and a younger girl, but the aching sorrow in their love is absolutely stunning and magical."
  • The song's music video follows a young man who crosses impossible barriers of dimension and time to be with his true, lost love. The clip was directed by Maria Juranic who also shot Prada's "First Sight" and "War" visuals.

    Hranica said: "Maria was able to distill into the video the love story's warmth and emotion that is apparent in the song's lyrics. Even her first edit blew us out of the water."
  • Russian author Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita has inspired a number of songs in the pop canon. Lana Del Rey's 2012 album Born to Die contains a number of references to the novel. "Off To The Races", for instance, repeatedly quotes from the opening sentence of the first chapter: "light of my life, fire of my loins." The record also contains a bonus track entitled "Lolita."

    The best known reference to Lolita in popular music is probably The Police's hit tune about a teacher who lusts after one of his students. "Don't Stand So Close To Me" contains the line "Just like the old man in the book by Nabokov."

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