I really don't recall the inspiration for this piece, but I do remember that the basic song structure and lyrics came out very quickly. It was a stream-of-consciousness guitar and vocal composition, and the oft-changing time signatures even caught me by surprise...but they work and flow smoothly. Once I recorded the core song, the instrumental section at the end happened very quickly as well. The story it tells is of a group of people who are leaving their current home for hopefully greener pastures on another world. Apparently, their planet is spinning into decay and cannot return to the idyllic place it once was. It's just your typical planetary escape and interplanetary travel tale...set to music.
This version of Over Roads was recorded in 1981 on my 4-track cassette recorder as it was being written. At the time, it wasn't one of my favorites and I didn't pay much attention to it for quite a few years. However, when I rediscovered it last year it hit me in a different way and I may spend some time at some point on a new version.
