I Am The Highway

“I am the Highway” by Audioslave is a song that came out in 2002 as a single from Audioslave’s self titled debut album, Audioslave. The song is a poem, the words taken literally don't make much sense, but by breaking it down, you come to find that it means much more than the literal meaning. It is the story of a man that is beaten down and weary from a toxic relationship, where he was unappreciated and undervalued, but there is hope for him because on his own, though he loved her, he knows that he no longer has to deal with her tearing him down and walking all over him.
The song starts with a biblical reference in the first verse. “Pearls and swine, Bereft of me”(Lines 1-2) This is a reference to the book of Matthew chapter 7 verse 6, “Do not give what is
He ends the verse with this,
I put millions of miles
Under my heels
And still too close
To you, I feel, yeah (Lines 17-20)
He means that no matter how far away he gets, either physically from her, or emotionally from the relationship, it'll never be far enough because the pain it put him though will never be forgotten and he can't escape it, he must simply live with it. Though he is free of her burdens, he may not fully circumvent the impact it had on his life. But in the end, though damaged, he feels unrestrained, and almost physically unbound by the metaphorical bonds placed on him. The song ends with him restating that nobody owns him, let alone her. The outro is an extended chorus, he sings,
I am not your rolling wheels
I am the highway
I am not your carpet ride
I am the sky
I am not your blowing wind
I am the lightning
I am not your autumn moon
I am the night, the night. (Lines 21-28)
He is not hers, he is wild, and untameable, as is the theme of poem. He takes pain, and rids himself of its source, looking to the future optimistically as a free