Auditorium/Motor Away Video

Post punk X-Man parked his forklift, like a billion stars flickering from the grinders wheel... And with this begins the musical odyssey known as Auditorium/Motor Away! These 2 tracks, slammed together for the purposes of this video, were highlights on 1995's all-around awesome Guided By Voices LP Alien Lanes. 28 songs, 41 minutes of pure lo-fi joy. And the video serves the music brilliantly, kinetic and fun with some outstanding visuals. Its only recently that I realized that this clip actually has a plot- the band's van breaks down so a tow truck driver is called to rescue, arriving only to find several other tow trucks are already there. Look for young Nate Farley (then just GBV's guitar tech/roadie/local dude) as the tow truck driver, the mysterious cassette (what is hidden behind It Is You?), the band's reflection following Nate wherever he goes, and the triumphant "come on!" moment on top of the van. Good shit!

Motor Away became a theme song of sorts for my travels out west the following year. I bailed out of New Jersey, where I grew up, to follow my fortunes, eventually finding myself in Butte, Montana of all places. It was only after years of hearing Motor Away that I realized that the lyrics were actually a warning not to "motor away" and "belittle every little voice that told you so", that leaving home won't provide "the chance of a lifetime" after all. Thematically, it reminds me R.E.M.'s classic Don't Go Back To Rockville ("and waste another year") but with the opposite message. Anyway, it was a lesson I learned too damn late and a story that will be made more clear in Chapter 2 of the "My GBV Experience" section of Pop Zeus.

Enjoy the clip!