Videos by American Songwriter
Minnesota has produced some legendary musicians. Bob Dylan was born and grew up there, while Prince turned it into the funkiest state in the union. But it took The Replacements and songwriter Paul Westerberg to turn a feature unique to the state, in this case the Minneapolis Skyway System, into an unforgettably affecting track. “Skyway,” found on the band’s 1987 album Pleased To Meet Me, uses the city’s raised, building-connecting walkways as a metaphor for unrequited love.
The Replacements were originally known for their shambolic rock energy. As Westerberg explained in a 2008 interview to promote the video game Rock Band 2, he eventually overcame his reluctance to introduce more restrained material to the band. “I thought there was no reason to drag these little ballads out and embarrass the group with them or make everybody sit down and play zithers,” Westerberg said. “I knew that we were a live act and I was fairly adamant about keeping my stuff away from them for a while until it kind of got to the point where the quiet stuff was better stuff and I simply got tired of shouting for about four years.”
Westerberg also cited in that interview Rolling Stones songs like “Lady Jane” and “Factory Girl” as the kind of change-of-pace material that versatile bands could handle, and “Skyway” certainly fits that bill for The Replacements. Featuring a delicate melody and subtle instrumental backing, the song tells the story of a guy who’s down on his luck and rides the subway to maneuver through his dreary existence. Meanwhile, the object of his affection passes by him high above on the skyway as he watches and falls deeper in love.
Westerberg immediately sets this girl up as an ideal that his hapless character, freezing down on the street below (“in my stupid hat and gloves”), could never hope to reach. In the second verse, he demonstrates the contrast between her gliding above and his mode of transportation: “But you take the skyway/It don’t move at all like the subway.” The narrator attempts to make his ride of choice seem more palatable, promising warmth even if it means having to move a few bums aside to grab a seat.
We don’t know how the story is going to end heading into that final verse. The gentility of the tune suggests a possible happy ending, but the vulnerability of Westerberg’s voice implies something else is in store. In the final verse, the divergent paths of the two characters briefly intersect. On the one-way street that lies between the two extremes of the subway and the skyway, she suddenly approaches him. His heartbreaking reaction: “There wasn’t a damn thing I could do or say.”
The amazing thing about the song is that it works without any knowledge of the actual Minneapolis Skyway System. It simply plays out as a tale of someone who doesn’t like himself enough to factor into the life of someone he truly loves. Thanks to The Replacements and Paul Westerberg, “Skyway” says as much about the frailty of a wounded heart as it does about the local architecture.
