Forty Miles of Bad Road
# Forty Miles of Bad Road

"Forty Miles of Bad Road" is a rock and roll instrumental recorded by Duane Eddy. Released as a single in 1959, it also appeared on Eddy's 1960 album $1,000,000 Worth of Twang.

## Background

Duane told Oldies Radio DJ "Wild" Wayne that the title came about when he and his producer Lee Hazlewood were waiting in line to buy tickets at a movie theatre. They overheard two guys in front of them discussing a blind date that one of them just had. One asked the other as to how the blind date went. His friend replied that it was ok but the girl had a face that looked like "forty miles of bad road". Duane and Lee looked at each other and said we have the title of our next record.

## Chart performance

The song charted at #9 on the Pop chart. "Forty Miles of Bad Road" also went to #17 on the Hot R&B Sides chart.

| Chart (1959) | Peak position |
| - | - |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) | 11 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 9 |
| US Billboard Hot R&B Sides | 17 |

## Song influence

* The idiom is referenced in the lyrics of the R.E.M. song "Crush with Eyeliner": "She's a sad tomato/She's three miles of bad road".
* It is also referenced in Bob Dylan's 2000 Academy Award winning song "Things Have Changed": "I've been walking forty miles of bad road/If the Bible is right, the world will explode."
