Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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An acoustic cover of "Ventura Highway" by America from their 1972 album Homecoming for Warner Brothers Records.
Words and music by Dewey Bunnell
Chewin' on a piece of grass, walkin' down the road
Tell me, how long you gonna stay here, Joe?
Some people say this town don't look good in snow
You don't care, I know
Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger than moonshine
You're gonna go, I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylights there
Seasons crying no despair
Alligator lizards in the air, in the air
Wishin' on a falling star, waitin' for the early train
Sorry boy, but I've been hit by a purple rain
Aw, come on Joe, you can always change your name
Thanks a lot son, just the same
Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger than moonshine
You're gonna go, I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying no despair
Alligator lizards in the air, in the air
*Song Facts*
"Ventura Highway" is a 1972 song by the band America from their album Homecoming. It achieved the number 8 spot in the United States' Billboard Hot 100. Spending 12 weeks on that chart. It also reached number 43 in the UK Singles Chart.
The tune's vocalist and writer Dewey Bunnell has said that the lyric "alligator lizards in the air" is a reference to the shapes of clouds in the sky he saw in 1963. This observation occurred while his family was driving down the coast from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, California. Suddenly, they had a flat tire. While his father changed the tire, he and his brother stood by the side of the road, watched the clouds, and saw a road sign for Ventura.
In the booklet for the boxed set Highway, Dewey Bunnell states that the song "reminds me of the time I lived in Omaha as a kid and how we'd walk through cornfields and chew on pieces of grass. There were cold winters, and I had images of going to California. So I think in the song I'm talking to myself, frankly: 'How long you gonna stay here, Joe?' I really believe that 'Ventura Highway' has the most lasting power of all my songs. It's not just the words — the song and the track have a certain fresh, vibrant, optimistic quality that I can still respond to."
"Ventura Highway" has a "Go West, young man" motif in the structure of a conversation between an old man named Joe and a young and hopeful kid. Joe was modeled after a "grumpy" old man he had met while his dad was stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi, at Keesler Air Force Base. Bunnell also stated: "I remember vividly having this mental picture of the stretch of the coastline traveling with my family when I was younger. Ventura Highway itself, there is no such beast. What I was really trying to depict was the Pacific Coast Highway, Highway 1, which goes up to the town of Ventura."
"That's Gerry and Dan doing a harmony on two guitars on the intro. I remember us sitting in a hotel room, and I was playing the chords, and Gerry got that guitar line, and he and Dan worked out that harmony part. That's really the hook of the song".
Record World said that the "threesome come out of the desert and onto the road in this refreshing number that features those great harmonies and acoustic guitars."
The tune contains the phrase "purple rain". Which later became the title of the 1984 song, album, film and tour from the artist Prince. Whether any connection actually exists, both Mikel Toombs of The San Diego Union and Bob Kostanczuk of the Post-Tribune have written that Prince got the title directly from "Ventura Highway". When asked to explain the phrase "purple rain" in "Ventura Highway", America member Gerry Beckley responded: "You got me."
The song won many fans, including the pro wrestler-turned-politician, Jesse Ventura. Dewey Bunnell recalled, "We went and played at Governor Jesse Ventura's inaugural out in Minneapolis. He asked us to — his wife is a horse lady, and she'd always loved 'A Horse with No Name', and he had adopted this name Ventura. So when he put together his cast of characters for his big inaugural celebration, he wanted us to come and play two songs, which we did".
The opening guitar riff and musical hook of "Ventura Highway" is sampled throughout Janet Jackson's 2001 song "Someone to Call My Lover" by the production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who were influenced by America and "Ventura Highway" listening to KDWB 63 AM (Top 40) growing up in Minneapolis, Minnesota (along with their close friend, musician Prince). Bunnell said the use of the sample from "Ventura Highway" and the production by Jam, Lewis and Jackson boosted sales for America.
#America #VenturaHighway #AcousticCover
🎤 plaidonflannel.com
🎸 plaidonflannelshop.com
An acoustic cover of "Ventura Highway" by America from their 1972 album Homecoming for Warner Brothers Records.
Words and music by Dewey Bunnell
Chewin' on a piece of grass, walkin' down the road
Tell me, how long you gonna stay here, Joe?
Some people say this town don't look good in snow
You don't care, I know
Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger than moonshine
You're gonna go, I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylights there
Seasons crying no despair
Alligator lizards in the air, in the air
Wishin' on a falling star, waitin' for the early train
Sorry boy, but I've been hit by a purple rain
Aw, come on Joe, you can always change your name
Thanks a lot son, just the same
Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger than moonshine
You're gonna go, I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through your hair
And the days surround your daylight there
Seasons crying no despair
Alligator lizards in the air, in the air
*Song Facts*
"Ventura Highway" is a 1972 song by the band America from their album Homecoming. It achieved the number 8 spot in the United States' Billboard Hot 100. Spending 12 weeks on that chart. It also reached number 43 in the UK Singles Chart.
The tune's vocalist and writer Dewey Bunnell has said that the lyric "alligator lizards in the air" is a reference to the shapes of clouds in the sky he saw in 1963. This observation occurred while his family was driving down the coast from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, California. Suddenly, they had a flat tire. While his father changed the tire, he and his brother stood by the side of the road, watched the clouds, and saw a road sign for Ventura.
In the booklet for the boxed set Highway, Dewey Bunnell states that the song "reminds me of the time I lived in Omaha as a kid and how we'd walk through cornfields and chew on pieces of grass. There were cold winters, and I had images of going to California. So I think in the song I'm talking to myself, frankly: 'How long you gonna stay here, Joe?' I really believe that 'Ventura Highway' has the most lasting power of all my songs. It's not just the words — the song and the track have a certain fresh, vibrant, optimistic quality that I can still respond to."
"Ventura Highway" has a "Go West, young man" motif in the structure of a conversation between an old man named Joe and a young and hopeful kid. Joe was modeled after a "grumpy" old man he had met while his dad was stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi, at Keesler Air Force Base. Bunnell also stated: "I remember vividly having this mental picture of the stretch of the coastline traveling with my family when I was younger. Ventura Highway itself, there is no such beast. What I was really trying to depict was the Pacific Coast Highway, Highway 1, which goes up to the town of Ventura."
"That's Gerry and Dan doing a harmony on two guitars on the intro. I remember us sitting in a hotel room, and I was playing the chords, and Gerry got that guitar line, and he and Dan worked out that harmony part. That's really the hook of the song".
Record World said that the "threesome come out of the desert and onto the road in this refreshing number that features those great harmonies and acoustic guitars."
The tune contains the phrase "purple rain". Which later became the title of the 1984 song, album, film and tour from the artist Prince. Whether any connection actually exists, both Mikel Toombs of The San Diego Union and Bob Kostanczuk of the Post-Tribune have written that Prince got the title directly from "Ventura Highway". When asked to explain the phrase "purple rain" in "Ventura Highway", America member Gerry Beckley responded: "You got me."
The song won many fans, including the pro wrestler-turned-politician, Jesse Ventura. Dewey Bunnell recalled, "We went and played at Governor Jesse Ventura's inaugural out in Minneapolis. He asked us to — his wife is a horse lady, and she'd always loved 'A Horse with No Name', and he had adopted this name Ventura. So when he put together his cast of characters for his big inaugural celebration, he wanted us to come and play two songs, which we did".
The opening guitar riff and musical hook of "Ventura Highway" is sampled throughout Janet Jackson's 2001 song "Someone to Call My Lover" by the production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis who were influenced by America and "Ventura Highway" listening to KDWB 63 AM (Top 40) growing up in Minneapolis, Minnesota (along with their close friend, musician Prince). Bunnell said the use of the sample from "Ventura Highway" and the production by Jam, Lewis and Jackson boosted sales for America.
#America #VenturaHighway #AcousticCover
