A controlled-access highway is a highway designed exclusively for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow and ingress/egress regulated. They are known by various terms worldwide, including Autobahn, autopista, autoroute, autostrada, snelweg, freeway, motorway, and sometimes less precise terms such as highway, expressway, parkway, or turnpike.
A controlled-access highway provides an unhindered flow of traffic, with no traffic signals, intersections or property access. They are free of any at-grade crossings with other roads, railways, or pedestrian paths, which are instead carried by overpasses and underpasses across the highway. Entrance and exit to the highway are provided at interchanges by slip roads (ramps), which allow for speed changes between the highway and arterial thoroughfares and collector roads. On the highway, opposing directions of travel are physically separated by a central reservation (median), such as a strip of grass or boulders, or by a traffic barrier.
Controlled-access highways, as they exist today, evolved during the first half of the twentieth century. The Long Island Motor Parkway, opened in 1908 as a private venture, was the world's first limited-access roadway. Germany began to build its famous Reichsautobahn controlled-access highway network (then referred to as a Dual Highway) following the First World War. It rapidly assembled a nationwide system of such roads in anticipation of their use in World War II. Italy followed shortly thereafter, opening its first Autostrada in 1925. The first North American freeways (known as parkways) opened in the New York City area in the 1920s. Britain, heavily influenced by the railway,[citation needed] did not build its first motorway until the mid-1950s.
Victoria Christina Hesketh (born 4 May 1984), better known by her stage name Little Boots, is an English electropop singer-songwriter. Her stage name comes from a nickname given to her by a friend, a reference to her unusually small feet. As a musician, Boots sings and plays the piano, keyboards, synthesizer, Stylophone and a Japanese electronic instrument called Tenori-on. After a return to college to focus on her studies, Hesketh along with two of her fellow students formed the electropunk band Dead Disco. The band had limited releases of their four singles but due to increasingly different ideas about the band's musical direction Hesketh left to pursue a solo career. Hesketh has cited as influences The Human League, Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd, Kylie Minogue, Britney Spears and Jean Michel Jarre.
Hesketh began writing her own songs and posting covers on social networking sites such as YouTube and Myspace. After appearing on several shows including Later... with Jools Holland and Last Call with Carson Daly, Hesketh entered production on her debut album Hands. With increasing media attention regarding her then-yet-to-be-released debut album, Hesketh topped the BBC Sound of 2009 poll and received a Critics' Choice nomination at the 2009 BRIT Awards. With the release of her debut, she was linked to a recent wave of breakthrough female artists in their twenties playing 1980s-influenced music, including Lady Gaga, Ladyhawke, Florence and the Machine and Elly Jackson of La Roux.
Anni B Sweet is the stage name of Ana López Rodríguez (Málaga, 1988), indie and folk singer-songwriter.
López has been composing songs since the age of seven and in her teenage years performed in a number of bands with her friends. In 2007 Anni started to perform as a solo artist and word of her spread amongst music fans through MySpace. In 2008 she was signed by Subterfuge Records, Spain's biggest independent label, with whom she released her debut album Start, Restart, Undo the following year. Anni was offered the chance to perform at the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim in 2009 before having released her album. This was followed up by a massive tour of Spain and several other countries. In October 2009, Anni's acoustic cover version of Take On Me, by A-Ha was used on a television advert for a major fast food chain. She was also voted Artist Sensation of 2009 by El País online.
Tom Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is an English singer-songwriter, bassist and radio presenter, better known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson Band. He later peaked at #6 in the UK Singles Chart with his solo single "War Baby".
Tom Robinson was born into a middle-class family in Cambridge on 1 June 1950. He attended Friends School Saffron Walden, a co-ed privately funded Quaker school, between 1961 and 1967. Robinson has two brothers and a sister: Matthew (former executive producer of BBC One's EastEnders and Byker Grove, currently running Khmer Mekong Films in Cambodia), George and Sophy.
At the age of 13, Robinson realised that he was a homosexual when he fell in love with another boy at school. At that time, male homosexual activity was still a crime in England, punishable by prison. Wracked with shame and self-hatred, he had a nervous breakdown and attempted suicide at 16. A head teacher got him transferred to Finchden Manor, a therapeutic community for disturbed teenagers in Kent, where he spent his following six years. At Finchden Manor, Robinson was inspired by John Peel's The Perfumed Garden on pirate Radio London, and by a visit from Alexis Korner. The legendary bluesman and broadcaster transfixed a roomful of people with nothing but his voice and an acoustic guitar. The whole direction of Robinson's life and career became suddenly clear to him.
Motorway food is the worst in the world,
You've never eaten food like you've eaten on the motorway.
Motorway food is the worst in the world,
The coffee tastes weak and the cakes taste stale
And gasoline fumes are the worst to inhale,
Your stomach rolls over and your face turns pale.
Oh, that motorway livin',
Ain't it a thrill to be so free, yeh.
Riding down the motorway,
Got to charge up my batteries,
Rest my seat, rest my eyes,
So tired, tired of livin', tired of livin' this motorway livin'.
Motorway tea is warm and wet,
The rain is a pouring and it's four in the morning,
And it's all I can get.
You've never seen loos like motorway loos,
Thousands of people passing through,
It's enough to put you off of your motorway food.
Oh that motorway living,
Ain't it a thrill to be so free, yeh.
Got to get away from
Cats eyes, cold meat pies,
Thousand on raft, cold French fries
So tired, tired of livin', tired of livin' this motorway livin'.
Motorway food is invariably fried,
It keeps me and feeds me and helps me survive.
Oh that motorway, ain't it a thrill to be so free, yeh,
Riding down the motorway, cats eyes, cold meat pies
Thousand on raft, cold French fries,
So tired, tired of livin', tired of livin' this motorway livin'.
Motorway food is the worst in the world,
You'll never eat food like you've eaten on the motorway.
Motorway food is the worst in the world.
My stomach's upset and I don't feel well,
Gotta get my head down, stop for a while in a motorway hotel.
Mama oh mama, my dear Suzi too,
This motorway message is sent just for you.
My headache's improved but my back really hurts,
Verse 1:
Foreign names, neon lights
Changing lanes in my mind
Passing towns we don't know,
Heading for the unknown
All our friends left behind
They're not even on my mind
They have lives, they have plans
They could never understand
Chorus:
Meet me on the moon today,
Together we can make our great escape
Meet me on the moon today,
Maybe we can find our perfect place
We can drive today, we can drive today
Meet me on the moon today,
It's just me and you
It's just me and you
Verse 2:
Getting late, coffee's cold
Heavy eyes on the road
We won't stop, no we won't break
Shadows hide, overtake the small town we left behind
We won't drown, we won't hide,
A new life, a new ṗlan
They would never understand
Chorus:
Meet me on the moon today,
Together we can make our great escape
Meet me on the moon today,
Maybe we can find our perfect place
We can drive today, we can drive today
Meet me on the moon today,
It's just me and you
It's just me and you
We won't look back, so don't look back
We won't look back, so don't look back
We won't look back, so don't look back
We won't look back, so don't look back
We won't look back, so don't look back
We won't look back, so don't look back
Chorus:
Meet me on the moon today,
Together we can make our great escape
Meet me on the moon today,
Maybe we can find our perfect place
We can drive today, we can drive today
Meet me on the moon today,
It's just me and you
I’ll never understand why
your voice is so related to my mind
“Wrong” it’s not in your noise
Hidden feelings on the top of the roof
And it’s unreachable, and illogical
Blocking my mind, blocking my mind, blocking my mind
[estribillo]
Oh Oh, I’m driving on a motorway
Chaos is the name of the road
Hey, and I’m following the signs of the road
Because I can’t go on on my own, I can’t go on on my own
Oh Oh, Oh Oh, Oh Oh
And I am working on building up a wall in my heart
So little soldiers of war don’t try to climb it up
And I am working on building up a railing in my mind
So before getting in
you must knock on me,
You must knock on me,
you must knock on me
[estribillo]
Oh Oh, Oh Oh, Oh Oh
Never lit a fire in your eyes
That's what he said to me
It should really come as no surprise
I bruise that easily
Can't stand living
So we wait for another day
I'll pull through
I know you can't stand me
But we're stuck here anyway
A motel room in nowhere Nevada
We're just lost on the motorway
I turn to you, you've got nothing to say
And we're just wasting days away
It's fifty miles to Reno
And we're staring at the desert
Never felt a pain that hurt too much
That's what you said to me
Lately it seems you've been out of touch
We both break so easily
Can't stand living
So we wait for another day
I'll pull through
I know you can't stand me
But we're stuck here anyway
A motel room in nowhere Nevada
We're just lost on the motorway
I turn to you, you've got nothing to say
And we're just wasting days away
Something is lost on the motorway
I guess our dreams sort of got in the way
And strung us along for another day
We'll kiss when we drop off the car in L.A.