What do you think I Am the Highway means?

Audioslave: I Am the Highway Meaning

Album cover for I Am the Highway album cover

Song Released: 2004


I Am the Highway Lyrics

Pearls and swine bereft of me
Long and weary my road has been
I was lost in the cities
Alone in the hills
No sorrow or pity
For leaving i feel

I am not your rolling wheels
I am a highway
I am not your carpet ride
I am the...

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  1. anonymous
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     Oct 8th 2015 !⃝

    I am not sure if the song is about one specific subject. Perhaps, it is written about a concept of unifying. I'm not your rolling wheel, carpet ride, autumn moon ECT. He is always the separated item sky, highway, night, lighting. Idk perhaps, he is not a possession.

  2. anonymous
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     Sep 3rd 2014 !⃝

    i think its about how people may walk all over you, and in response, your just like, "no. you cant do that. i am way more than you think"

  3. anonymous
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     Mar 30th 2014 !⃝

    It's about recovery of drug addiction and staying strong. Millions of miles and still too close to you means its always been around (temptation) and I guess u can figure out the rest. It's empowering and heard at many rehabilitation centers.

  4. anonymous
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     Jul 16th 2013 !⃝

    HE is not attached to wealth or material things although his journey has been a long and difficult one. He has been lost and alone but he is not sorry for leaving that state of mind...because he is more than just a middle man, an entertainer for others, he is the world and the world is in him.
    He does not need friends or pretend friends, he can manage by himself..but no matter how far he is, himself and those who matter are always by his side

  5. anonymous
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     Jun 5th 2013 !⃝

    I would like to think that there aren't any douche bag religious references in this song. It's a little sick that people obsess over some dude who may or may not have existed and thinks good shit is about their long dead hero. "Oh wow man. Cool song. It must be about Jesus bro! That's so cool."

    Suicide is Painless

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  6. anonymous
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     May 21st 2013 !⃝

    wow, all of these are so impressive, and intresting to read. Firstly I am not a very eloquent speaker or writer for that matter, and secondly, this is just my interpretation seems to be of this song. and It holds a very special place in my heart might I add. Due to some paralells in my own life.
    I am thinking, that what he might be saying is that he is haunteda haunted man
    by something/someone? from a past exp.
    and that money and material things aside, he has learned from that past thing, and yet still looks back to it,, perhaps to show where he has come from and how he is able to overcome more, due to being strengthened by past hardships. wether it is relationships, lover, family, freinds, etc. I think in life when we overcome harships it strengthens us, in time. wether we realize it or not.
    I just feel as if he is a haunted man. that's just what i make of it. I truly enjoyed reading all of this and they have given more perspective on it. thanks for posting them.

  7. anonymous
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     Dec 8th 2012 !⃝

    A song about being so much more than what she thinks. But a man she needs. Without a "highway" there's no "rolling wheels". Without a "sky" there's no "carpet ride". If there's not a "night" there's consequently no "autumn moon". So not just seeing the obvious but taking the much bigger picture into appreciation.

  8. anonymous
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     Jan 26th 2012 !⃝

    I think this song is about time and is written from times point of view.
    For me it means that no matter what you do or build in this life when your time is up your time is up.
    It seems to have the message throughout the song that the important thing in life is the journey not the goal.

  9. anonymous
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     Dec 20th 2011 !⃝

    One of my favorite songs on their best album (IMHO).

    I believe that the song is about the expectations that people have on you and who they think you are. When in actaul fact they are so far off the mark - even at the oposite side of the spectrum (as suggested by the lyrics in the chorus).

    Chris seems to respond to each "Matarial value" and image that he has been labelled with a "Spiritual" one - go through the chorus, he has rebuffed the images of: Rolling wheels; Carpet ride; Blowing wind & Autumn moon with deeper and more spiritual images: Highway; Sky; Lighning & Night.

    It's sole destroying to always have to live up to someones expectations and in this song, Chris makes a stand.

  10. anonymous
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     Nov 20th 2011 !⃝

    It's about being much more than someone in your life tries to make you, and how you are not there FOR THEM. You are just there, before them and after. It's a call back to your own spaciousness.

  11. anonymous
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     Nov 4th 2011 !⃝

    I always attempt to seek out the very best way cleansing my carpets.
    I discovered out that steam cleaning is among the best cleansing approaches for your most carpets.

  12. anonymous
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     Sep 29th 2011 !⃝

    I think this song is written from the point of view of Jesus.

    Pearls. Riches, material things.
    Swine. Gluttony, greedy, unclean, morally bankrupt.
    Bereft of me. Without me.
    No sorrow or pity for leaving I feel. Refers to dieing on the cross.

    The friends and liars bit seems to say to bad influences, Go your own way I’ll go mine and no matter how far I go I will always be a step away. This might refer to temptation. Cornell has lived the rock star life and it’s probably awful tempting to go off the deep end sometimes.

    The chorus seems pretty clear from the Jesus P.O.V. Basically he is driving home the point that he is the way, not a component of it. The big cheese so to speak.

    Then again I could be wrong. Go Pats!!

  13. anonymous
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     Jun 4th 2011 !⃝

    I think this song is about FATE & DESTINY -that fate is there but does not necessarily control your ultimate destiny. It just provides you with the opportunities but doesn't get you to where you want to go without some action on your part. For instance, it isn't going to drive you to where you want to go (i.e. not your rolling wheels), but it will provide you an opportunity to drive (the highway); it isn't your carpet ride taking you where you want to go, but gives you the sky for you to ride your carpet. I heard this song today for the first time in a long while as I was driving down a Manhattan street - I had just relocated from beautiful San Diego back to NYC to be located nearer to my parents, quit a six figure income and am now unemployed. As I was driving I was thinking about how much I miss my life in San Diego and about how much I had f**d up my life in making such a terribly bad decision, and heard this song. It gave me hope in making me realize that we are all in control of our own destinies and that the possibilities are there, you just need to take action (drive your own carpet ride) to create the life you want.

  14. anonymous
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     Apr 9th 2011 !⃝

    This song made perfect sense to me last night, as it pertains to my own personal situation. He is saying that she doesn't need to worry about it not lasting. By not being the rolling wheels, he is saying that he is not just there for short term passion, but by being the highway, he is the real deal and means to be there for the long haul.

  15. anonymous
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     Jan 6th 2010 !⃝

    i had a dream that basically tells what the sog means...

    it means leaving your family and friends, tired of bein abused or screwed over by people.

    "i am not your rolling wheels, i am the highway
    i am not your carpet ride, i am the sky
    i am not your autumn moon, i am the night"

    basically saying that you cant mess with me, u cant do this, or sumthin...

    "i put millions of miles and still to close to you i feel"
    you miss back home but know that you cant go back and put up with that again.

    thats just my interpretation.

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