One of the great road songs in the United States, Lindsey Buckingham wrote "Holiday Road" for the 1983 Chevy Chase movie National Lampoon's Vacation, where it plays over the opening credits. The film follows the misadventures of the Griswold family as they set out from Illinois to California in the trusty station wagon en route to Wally World. The film did very well, helping to popularize this song.
In his work with Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist, Buckingham wrote songs of depth and meaning. "Holiday Road" allowed him to step outside of these constraints to compose a simple, jaunty song with no relation to his other work. He kept it simple; the chorus is simply the words "holiday road" repeated four times, and the verses are very basic: I found out long ago It's a long way down the holiday road Jack be nimble, Jack be quick Take a ride on the West Coast kick I found out long ago It's a long way down the holiday road Buckingham could come off as serene (as he was portrayed on Saturday Night Live), but this song showed he had a healthy sense of humor.
This song was used in all of the Vacation sequels: National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), Vegas Vacation (1997) and Vacation (2015). In that last one, three different versions are used: the original, a reflective cover by Matt Pond, and country-tinged version by Zac Brown Band.
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