The Triffids - Wide Open Road (1986)

[@Maclabhruinn]

As fresh, haunting and powerful today as it was back in 1986. You don't listen to this and think "hmm, yeah, an 80s song". You just feel a brilliant song reaching in, and touching your heart. Quite rightly in APRA's Top 30 Australian Songs of all Time.

[@Ken-er9cq]

I was driving in outback Queensland and had put "Born Sandy Devotional" on, and when it came to this track it just captured the feeling of driving in the outback searching for something. I can't think of any track that better captures something uniquely Australia.

[@Scotty-P]

And yes, you do think, 'yeah, an 80's song'!

[@bartonim]

All of Born Sandy is stunning, but this one really stands out for me. It's unabashedly gigantic, deliberately out of step with mid-'80s indie times, and as a result completely unique. I still miss David.😔🎸

[@Thespiansewist]

A universal song for all beautiful in 86 as it is 2024

[@damianwoollam2123]

This song is completely symbolic of me leaving Mandurah (the album cover) and doing the road trip across the Nullarbor to live in Brisbane. I became so discontented with my life and left all my loved ones behind to better my situation, especially when community values were becoming non existent. I grew up in a West Australian wheatbelt town and the film clip shows such similar landscape. I felt like I had cut all my ties when I did the trip across and it was so surreal. That Wide Open Road experience was like "Then I Realised". When I started doing gigs in Brisbane I wrote a song about the trip and it kind of parallels this song without knowing it until recently. It is very relevant as it correlates with having left a girlfriend behind also. It is a massive part of the soundtrack for my pilgrimage in life.

[@zt3811]

Good story mate

[@andysings]

Thanks Damian for sharing your story, one of many which create you. Can tell though that experience was a very significant one. As a flow music creator, I've had the exact experience you're talking of, how only now, or over time, words/sentiments from songs take on a whole new meaning. I've actually been thanking my younger self lately as been experiencing & finding new meanings in my own work. Is spectacular to experience! May you still be creating your music - I've had times in my life i couldn't even look at my guitars let alone pick one up, as they'd represented better times. Then, once, in this state, I Did pick it up, & immediately thought how stoopid I'd been. Also, negative influence, doesn't want us in our true happiness. As when we shine, our controllers cease to exist. Whoa! Did Not mean to go on there, just your story resonated with me. Much love, protection & peace of heart & mind be Yours brother. nsw, south coast

[@gaufrid1956]

I don't write music, but I do write poetry in three languages (English, Filipino and Cebuano), and it's the experiences both positive and negative that happen in our lives that keeps the creativity coming! In my case, I retired after marrying a Filipina, and I now live with her in Mindanao Philippines. It was a big move, and I left family behind too. I don't regret it, but of course I still love Australia too! Cheers mate, and keep up the good work with your music!

[@McShavey]

I love the story of yours that goes with this. One of the great levellers - having a quiet drink, a common interest, a good meal, or a good song. We see each other more clearly. Love it mate.

[@markharris3500]

Symbolic for my family..Theme song for our 10 yr Adventure ...

[@rikkitekvila4806]

I love this song so much. It hurts brutally to think that Dave McComb was just 24 by then; an absolute prodigy, such a gifted poet and a divine singer. God I wish he was still around.

[@grantperkins368]

One of those songs you don't so much hear as feel. Absolutely stunning, even 38 years later ❤

[@donnarawlinsfrench220]

This is one of the most essential Australian songs ever: the breadth of its poetry and lyric, the great landscape of its music...a long time ago, it followed me all over England and Europe across a year of backpacking, and I felt so proud to know it as somehow "mine": the loneliness, desolation and angst of the outsider lost in a great landscape...Dave and the band were such exceptional musicians and story tellers. After so many years, the power of this song has diminished not one iota - as with a favourite book, I return to it and feel forever haunted, nourished and inspired.

[@TheDrewtho]

right up there with this one............ kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoWWnH94eLKrrqc Australian Crawl - Daughters Of The Northern Coast (1982) ....sons of beaches ;)

[@Hungry_Hunter]

If only we appreciated the brilliance musicians like David McComb while they lived . Go out and support your local musicians. Such a talented song writer. Cheers to everyone who ended up here because you've got very good taste in music.

[@claytongoode5715]

Don't care what anyone else thinks, the lyrics "I yelled my insides out at the sun" would have to be one of the most powerful lines ever sung.

[@Antipodean33]

yeah but the lyrics after that were more poignant "I went out into the fat lands, hunting down you and him"

[@Chapps1941]

_"So if you disappear out of view_ _You know I will never say goodbye_ _And though I try to forget it_ _You will make me call your name_ _And I'll shout it to the blue summer sky"_ Rivaled by this Hunter's and Collector's ckassic

[@larsfernet4109]

Indeed

[@michaelhalsall5684]

Ultimate Australian "road trip" music! The Triffids were one of Australia's best bands ever.

[@anterobarros8077]

LRB

[@twistedmr]

inxs

[@Allisonloosemore]

@Klaas Vos yes!

[@crazydaverocks]

One of the best Aussie songs ever written.

[@ianrobinson4200]

No you're wrong. It's one of the best songs ever written,period

[@BrisbaneRover1]

And so underloved 😢

[@michaelwilson7924]

Born Sandy Devotional is one of the most criminally underrated Albums ever released by an Aussie Band

[@sera2775]

Along w the go betweens as a band

[@damonlangley6615]

The amount of blank faces when people ask me who my favourite Aussie bands are and my response is "The Triffids, Saints, Go Betweens" is quite worrying

[@TimmyTickle]

Damon Langley And I guarantee you that if you asked those people who their fave Aussie bands are, they'd reply with all these bands with British/Kiwi members... P.S. You are an Aussie, right? Just checking

[@NewGenWatch]

I heard it more than a thousand times in the 80's

[@duncanwcraig9668]

The Triffids were popular in NZ. This is a wonderful album. I live in Sydney now. Went to a triffids tribute concert in 2008 !

[@markoffchaney1220]

I am thoroughly disappointed that this song only has 166 likes. This is one of the greatest Aussie songs ever!

[@TheCatfordcat]

I've lived outside Australia for about the last 15 years, but this is one of those intrinsically Australian songs that takes me back on a really gtutural, emotional level. Life is a wide open road, a beautiful thing indeed.

[@TheN1H1LL]

Where do u live now?

[@barrycoad2080]

ONYA

[@seangrant2738]

David McComb...one of the most underrated songwriters of his generation

[@tonycostanzo383]

thats more than true

[@WantonMyth]

They were underrated too

[@timbolicous]

Not under-rated in THIS here brain...bury me deep in his songs...

[@darrenjames4022]

Not underrated, more like under appreciated.

[@Madharry6672]

Thankyou David McComb for your beautiful song writing and singing. We were lucky to have you.

[@hardrider5905]

This song has made it into the national sound and film archive's iconic aussie song list.

[@paulsheringham4016]

Simple chords, but the music is filled with such space and detail, befitting a song about the vastness of rhe Australian outback. The drums, the slide guitar, keyboards.

[@jkeightley1967]

Still makes me cry after ALL these years. Absolutely fantastic song

[@belindahedges499]

Me too, just the absolute resonance of the lyrics. Always gets me.

[@rafepulley1160]

The best Australian song, i think. Captures the space, the beauty, the isolation and the alienation.

[@randymaloney7113]

Listened to this song every morning when travelling. Got me through 11 countries with my little boy.

[@timbolicous]

Awww bless

[@andysocial61]

Still tears me apart! Just EPIC....... nothing less......

[@40ny]

Such an atmospheric song. Dave Fanning on Irish radio used to play this all the time back in '86.

[@rosec6680]

Dave Fanning has great taste. I'm an Aussie living in Ireland now and always visit this track when I'm homesick.

[@jesusislukeskywalker4294]

@@rosec6680🤠

[@markw2436]

I'm a WA boy and this song means a lot to me. I have driven past those places in the video many times over the past 40 years.

[@iceblue1963]

Brings me to tears everytime i hear it-written in a time when oz music was pure and truly original.

[@gxxxbxxx2858]

beautiful song thats just gotten more beautiful with time... RIP David

[@leeriley66]

I still live with the hurt. After more than 30 years.

[@AussieMark909]

This is my personal Australian National Anthem.

[@sharonsmith7922]

AussieMark909 It should be speaking as a NZ from Northern Ireland

[@madbagg]

+AussieMark909 I LOVE MY BAND AND I AM IRIISH

[@rubiconnz1754]

Lots of wide open roads - shame Kybher Pass aint in our Banana Flavoured Big M Land !!

[@scoutleigh8180]

rubicon nz I wish we had Big M's in NSW ☹

[@TheTiffany70]

i agree

[@daz4627]

If this song had been written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, it would be right up there among his biggest and best hits and EVERYBODY would have heard it and no doubt raved about it... what a huge injustice it was (and still is) that The Triffids were largely ignored in Australia.

[@knowtheway7354]

PRINCE FAN HERE!! My Bro Loves Bruce n Da Triffids!!now i Know Y🙏💪

[@nnoddy8161]

That is what Steve Kilby from the Church said - is that you Steve?

[@daz4627]

@@nnoddy8161 No... not Steve... great minds just think alike... that's all :-)

[@duncanwcraig9668]

Kiwi here. Heard this album growing up in NZ. Been to a famous Triffids tribute concert. 2007 sydney festival.

[@hankbellamy]

Cruel sea another underrated band

[@stuartmckern3434]

Beautifully timeless song from underrated legends

[@basedxennial6269]

Greetings from the US. I feel so homesick

[@Jetwolf]

Still prods me in the soul decades later...

[@avidgunner2881]

Guys, I've been searching for this song for 8 years!!! Just found it, by humming the chorus on Google Search 😂

[@perfalkman8980]

A top,top song from a topnotch band. Always loved the Triffids. From a swedish fan.

[@ronanmurray4275]

I'm a Perth boy who my heart broken for the first time in the summer of 1986/87. This was my anthem.

[@OzzysRadioHalfHour]

To the great Australian roadtrip. Sometimes perilous. Always magic.

[@meteorb.dragon8187]

Esta cancion merece tener mas de 5 millones de vistas, es una obra maestra para los que amamos la soledad, la libertad, la paz y la armonia con Dios, la naturaleza y nosotros mismos

[@kevxter]

Stunning track. Don't think the video anywhere near does it justice, but hey it was the 80s... If you grew up in Western Australia it must have felt like the loneliest place on Earth, and this sounds like the loneliest song ever written. Perfectly sums up the meloncholy of leaving someone you love behind, being free at last to go 'anyplace that you want to go' - and the feeling of isolation and utter loneliness that comes with it. RIP David McComb.

[@hrvatskibaby]

Growing up in Sydney still felt lonely, even between all the hustle and bustle. The Triffids knew how to emote everything I never did.

[@sugarnads]

Always felt lonely. Still do. Its not the town its the soul. Some of us just dont touch others or connect.

[@naggs01]

Every time I have beers and end up youtubing I always end up here fucken great song

[@aussieevonne7857]

Same as. Same as.

[@kenmatheson5794]

and me 3

[@peternolan483]

its a given. they don't write em like his anymore

[@naggs01]

9 months ago I'm still drinking beers and ending up here

[@Hungry_Hunter]

Chris Egan Kenoath!

[@peregrinemccauley5010]

Top film clip , accompanying an gorgeous piece of melodic brilliance .

[@andrewcooke4844]

The great song of Western Australia

[@herve160181]

Mr (Robert) McComb was my geography teacher! What a legend.

[@matthiasgugelmann8516]

Never got tired of this song, it’s to good. Go and get that album, it’s great.

[@sera2775]

Did the triffids ever play with the go betweens? This and cattle and cane does something to you.....beyond words

[@pauldone198]

RIP David. 20 years gone today.

[@gaufrid1956]

From an album brimming with poetry and emotion, the quintessential song of loneliness and isolation. It sits in my top three Australian songs of all time, along with "Throw Your Arms Around Me" by Hunters & Collectors and "The Unguarded Moment" by The Church. I'm living overseas now, but hearing any of those songs takes me back to the land of my birth. Dave McComb, gone too soon!

[@timbolicous]

Nice reccos for the uninitiated...Dont forget Under the Milky Way Tonight too !

[@trevorrobinson56254]

Gidday Geoffery. You are spot on. Three brilliant songs written by wonderful song writers. I'm listening to Wide Open Road in Central Java, Indonesia where I've been living for years. It really can make me miss Perth at times but I have a good life here.

[@gaufrid1956]

@Klaas Vos g'day mate, or as Filipinos would say, mabuhay! Midnight Oil were the more popular of the two in Australia. I understand that The Triffids were more popular in the UK and Europe. Midnight Oil had many songs that were very political, and indeed Peter Garrett, the lead singer of Midnight Oil, went on to become a Labor Party minister (Minister for the Environment of course!). Dave McComb, the lead singer and songwriter for The Triffids, on the other hand had a rather troubled life including drug addiction, a major car accident, and a heart transplant. His music was poetic and introspective mainly, and I would compare The Triffids to The Doors, while Midnight Oil might be more similar to say Greenday or R.E.M. The Triffids were never as popular in Australia as they deserved to be. You might also like to listen on KZbin to some of their other classic songs, like "Bury Me Deep In Love" and "Estuary Bed". The album "Born Sandy Devotional" can also be found in its entirety on KZbin, and you will understand upon listening why I compare The Triffids to The Doors.

[@gaufrid1956]

@Klaas Vos what I meant about The Triffids was that they were more popular in Europe and the UK than they were in Australia. Midnight Oil was always more popular than them anywhere in the world. Great to hear you mention 1927. I still have their first album back in Australia, but yes I live in Mindanao, Philippines now. Of course, the most successful Aussie bands have been AC/DC and The Little River Band. If you haven't already, check out The Church, and Hunters and Collectors. The Whitlams are also worth a listen!

[@themillwall442]

God Bless this beautiful Great Southern Land. We owe the Triffids big time! Geez it takes me back. I was 25yrs old then and I was into the Celibates. My GF was into the Triffids, but being the yob I was I NEVER saw them but made her endure the Celibates. I now know the error of my ways and I can't take it back other than to realise I was wrong to not experience it. Chicks eh? They have it all over we males intrinsically and instinctively!

[@Bennyboy1985]

Maybe intrinsically and instinctively, but definitely not logically...

[@sugarnads]

Nah.back then my gf put a fkn communards tape in my car stereo Nek minit it was under the wheels of a STA bus (this was on george st sydney on a saturday night) 😎

[@timbolicous]

...Also the song is definitely an ANTHEM of road trips around this great land ! This and Lloyd Cole...perfect driving music...New England Highway, here we come !

[@matthewmccormick7548]

this is the soul of a West Australian, the most isolated place on earth

[@davidedmondson5083]

and that why we love WA.

[@tonypestell7453]

Shivers down my spine every time I hear this.

[@Aussie1964]

Such a big sound. Evocative and stirring. Almost to tears. Of another time. Lost love maybe? I suddenly release I am lost in time. Lost in another time, that I don't want to leave, even though it stirs me to tears. A strange feeling. Sadness and joy intertwined. PS Saw this great band in 1989 at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney.

[@nnoddy8161]

Incredible song which naturally conjures up images of Australia, but McComb's poetic brilliance betrays the real meaning of of the song which is about unrequited love. Pure genius.

[@juliankerr5185]

There has never been a more quintessential Australian song ever written. Mccomb simply nails the desolation and loneliness of isolation from someone and somethings that you truly love. The Chasm that exists between reality and longing can not be more beautifully expressed by anyone ever! Vale David McComb and truly wonderful Triffids

[@ozmark]

I'm still heartbroken, 17 years later.

[@roxanneviggiano888]

Fantastic song. There's even an iconic Melbourne cafe called Wide Open Road now.

[@kenmatheson5794]

These guys are still listened to by a lot of the worlds great musos

[@ficlaude1]

Stupenda, una delle più belle di tutti i tempi...per me😎

[@youbigtubership]

This is what music is for. This is breathing in the outback sky. What a band!

[@hazzamat]

Just gets better with every passing year....brilliant!

[@malcolmnanovich]

Loved this song back in the day & still do. Great song and still regularly listen to it. Gingin roadhouse

[@davidcampbell1936]

This is THE Sandgroper anthem. The ultimate Western Australian heartbreaker. Sundays at a session, Saturday nights at the Parrot.

[@georgenelson6022]

Magnificent song, I was born 1973. Whoo

[@mpk33]

First time hearing this song (pretty sure). Bloody awesome & just timeless.

[@punter1]

For a quintessentially Australian song, the Triffids’ Wide Open Road owes a lot to absence from Australia. The band travelled far and often from their Perth origins, first back and forth across the Nullarbor, then to London and northern Europe, where for a long time they were more widely appreciated than in their home country.

[@J.Blackk]

fire!

[@skymaxwell9351]

A holiday that no lockdown can stop

[@jeremyn4664]

They had an epiphany

[@dwblurb]

Still more appreciated in Europe than their own country.

[@punter1]

@@dwblurb Criminal what sheep do in AU ffs...

[@gikku3]

love the shot of the HQ coming down the road. classic.

[@somnorica]

How do you think it feels sleeping by yourself? when the one you love, the one you love is with someone else Then it's a wide open road It's a wide open road And now you can go any place that you ever wanted to go I wake up in the morning thinking I'm still by your side I reach out just to touch you then I realise It's a wide open road It's a wide open road

[@meteorb.dragon8187]

Las bandas de rock australianas en verdad si que tocaban hermoso, esta melodia hecha cancion demuestra el talento de los australianos en el rock, supera con creces al rock en español latino

[@shamanamarshall1469]

I don't remember this song back then maybe I have Old Timers but I love it it's a road trip song. I've lived on the road with my husband and had 4 children on the road moving moving moving it was easy back then, everything was cheaper. We worked from town to town.

[@catinthehat8412]

this song gives me goosebumps

[@markhollis362]

HQ rocking on down the road those ol girls can take a beating..so Australian.. You gotta love this country

[@viviennetwigg8096]

Loved this song so much. When young and searching. Saw Dave McComb live. A beautiful performer

[@gaufrid1956]

I'll introduce my Filipina wife and her male cousin who is my drinking mate to this song. Pity it's not on our videoke here in Mindanao Philippines! What a classic!

[@craigpollard9128]

rock and roll

[@lemilemi5385]

just the heads up bro, hes not her cousin!

[@kmac5717]

I’ve never understood how the Triffids weren’t as “hailed” as the Hoodoo’s or Oils, this song makes my chest ache and makes me yearn to hit the road, still ❤️

[@Chapps1941]

One of the 10 Best Aussie Songs ever.

[@easyease]

That guy had a such a powerful and distinctive voice. Unmatched.

[@Seasiatravels]

Hear hear

[@matiascarnevale3948]

Why haven't I heard of them before? I came looking for the monstrous plants in Wyndham's novel and found this great Aussie band.

[@HippoYnYGlaw]

Ha! wot a sting in life's tale.Good on you . Sleep no more!

[@PatriciaClements-p5f]

Lol!!! I'm so glad your search led you to The Triffids. As a native of Perth I was always very proud of them, like everybody else from the West. RIP David Mccomb.

[@bluebird28tl]

I was 18 when this was released. So much great Australia music then inc from Perth where I'm from.

[@BatMan-oe2gh]

I was 25, so I saw all of the great Perth Bands in the late 70's and all of the 80's at pub gigs. A great time for the Perth Music Scene. I could go any night of the week to see a live gig with these bands. And the old Sunday afternoon sessions were the best during summer. Cheers

[@jimmyjams9048]

this song and warrumpi band my island home is for people whom love this land! skips and wogs united

[@phillipabond8044]

Heartbreaking. Great storytelling. The Seabirds from same album too.

[@HippoYnYGlaw]

and then Estuary Bed... what a combination!

[@darrelgarard7014]

great song,great band,captures the essence of this country.

[@chilbury]

I’m 54 man I was young once in 1984 I worked all over the Northern Territory working on the road gangs operating scrapers and rollers on the Stuart highway life was easy then can you see now why I can’t move forward why I live in the past I hate it but look now my country has been sold off Covid19 all this crap! Yeah I’m older now but I can’t see any future man nothing !!! So I come here play this great song sit back and dream of the past on the Wide open Road..

[@joaomarques329]

One of the best songs ever written.

[@dpmuir9748]

A song that could only be about Australia. The band that was the only one to create such a masterpiece. It's my forever song.

[@Tcat506]

Listening to this in 2020 . Covid sadly isn't letting us go anywhere we want to go. In the meantime, I'll just watch this video, and dream

[@scottageindustries]

loved this then, and love it now. brilliant music.

[@AngryPete]

Just listening to 'My Generation' with Dangerous Dave interviewing Paul Kelly, who rated this song as the quintessential Australian song. This song is on my play list when taking the bike out to the red centre, just me and the track. Timeless classic, we've all come here because we know isolation.

[@thoughtsaber]

rest in Peace David McComb, your creativity was too big for you to contain....

[@grantperkins368]

Thankfully not......

[@robmoss7580]

It's an utter mystery to me why so few back in the day got the genius of the Triffids and David McComb. Mysterious, wistful, melancholic, unforgettable. They could really make you feel something...

[@lrsconsultantsglobal]

Full marks to ABC and the Squinters producers for making Wide Open Road the theme song of the show!!!

[@markcastelletti483]

Brilliant song. I make regular trips to western NSW from Sydney and this song is a favourite when it comes on from my playlist.

[@DuckReach432]

The local commercial radio station in my town has never played this song. They play four tracks by INXS every day but refuse to acknowledge anything slightly away from big commercial productions.

[@dopplerdog6817]

Listening to this in lockdown... 8 weeks so far and no end in sight.

[@monsirto]

IMO one of the greatest bands ever and certainly one of the most underrated. They were also involved in the making of my favorite forgotten album, Bill Drummond's "the Man". The album Drummond released before he formed the infamous and world shaking KLF.

[@FriedOrgan]

Davnar Ragnar That I did not know ! Thanks for that, KLF are as real as it gets !

[@joaovictorbatista5777]

Graham Lee played pedal steel on both KLF albums!

[@serrinaferreira113]

Still an awesome song ❤️

[@paulmulcahy4187]

How good Oz music in the 1980s Nick Cave, these blokes ,Go Betweens!

[@renzy5270]

Before pokies became the pub scene

[@TimmyTickle]

Too bad Australia’s mainstream media ignored them all at the time because they were too busy hyping up polished plastic pop like Kylie and INXS

[@Her.Serene.Feline.Cuteness.]

​@@TimmyTickleKylie sucks so much it is tragic we are associated with that complete non-talent.

[@KVeneris]

So beautiful and so under recognized

[@butterflyKiss604]

Great song. The whole album is a master piece. A vast, open, empty continent on a 12" disc. You can hear the heat of Western Australian summer in between the grooves, your pours open as you listen the the blue and wide horizon in front of you. This isn't the most underrated album by an Aussie band. No, this is the most underrated album from anywhere.

[@grantperkins368]

you can feel the summer between the grooves... Beautiful man you should write music.

[@butterflyKiss604]

@@grantperkins368 Thank you . I do lol

[@grantperkins368]

@@butterflyKiss604 Fantastic! Link?

[@sera2775]

Fucking brilliant, it makes me want to go out and shout to the sky.

[@FelixG2070]

well said!!

[@kenmatheson5794]

Amen

[@brainybroccoli4499]

Ahh, as I’m listening to this, I’m 21 again with everything in front of me..😊 🎶 Now I’m off to listen to Cattle & Cane.

[@shivaillusions]

...still my favourite song, like a beating heart...

[@SimonRobeyns]

lyrically brillant musically brilliant why do i need to find out about this band now they're fuckin amaziing the drums went off in my forehead the guns went off in my chest what the hell more do you want? why wasn't this more popular when david was alive

[@kenmatheson5794]

better late than never friend. Ken from their home town. Enjoy.

[@grantperkins368]

Glad ya found them :-)