Middle of the Road (song)
Encyclopedia
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
' album Learning to Crawl
Learning to Crawl
Learning to Crawl is the Pretenders' third album, released in 1984 after a two-year hiatus, during which time James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon both died of drug overdoses....
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It is a song that has a 60s-style rhythm, and it peaked at #19 on the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
pop singles chart and #2 on the US mainstream rock chart in January 1984, where it stayed for four weeks.
The number is at least quasi-autobiographical, with observations about the difference between wealth and poverty that she can see, but mostly she is seeing the changes in herself, as writer and lead singer Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde
Christine Ellen "Chrissie" Hynde is an US musician best known as the leader of the rock/new wave band the Pretenders. She is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and has been the only constant member of the band throughout its history.-Early life and career:Hynde is the daughter of a part-time...
exclaims towards the end of the song, I got a kid, I'm thirty-three, baby! At the end of the song, she is heard playing the harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
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In 1989 the song was donated to a double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
for Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
along with other songs that had environmental or other earth-sensitive subjects titled "Greenpeace: Rainbow Warriors."