Colorado

"Colorado"
Single by The Rentals
Album	REI Go Playlist
Released	September 27, 2008
Format	MP3
Recorded	2008 at Dan Joeright's home studio
Length	3:25
Writer(s)	Matt Sharp
Producer(s)	The Rentals
Status	Officially released
The Rentals singles chronology
"Getting By" (1999) "Colorado" (2008) "Thought of Sound (2014)

"Colorado"
Album track by The Rentals
Album	Songs About Time (Chapter One)
Released	April 7, 2009
Recorded	2008/2009
Length	3:25
Writer(s)	Matt Sharp
Producer(s)	Matt Sharp
Status	Officially released
Songs About Time (Chapter One) track listing
"Fall into the Eve" (6) "Colorado" (7) "A Thousand Seasons Past" (Spanish version) (8)
Alternate Cover
Chapter One: The Story of a Thousand Seasons Past

"Colorado" is a single by the Rentals and the seventh track from Chapter One of the multimedia project Songs About Time.

Appearances

• REI Go Playlist (2008)
• Songs About Time (Chapter One) (2009)

Overview

"Colorado" was initially debuted live by Matt Sharp at solo, acoustic concerts as early as 2003. According to a blog post on the Rentals' Myspace page in 2008, Sharp wrote the song years prior "in about 10 to 15 minutes" for a farewell concert organized by some of his friends for their friend Sloan. Said Sharp, "She had come to Los Angeles looking [for] something …something that always seemed to be ever so slightly out of her grasp. So, I wrote this for a girl, whom I barely knew, who was simply searching for the elusive something. The following morning Sloan set off on her journey. Colorado was intended to be just a song for that evening, a farewell song, a good luck song, a take care of yourself type song. That was all."

Sharp was asked by a friend to contribute a song to a then-upcoming compilation organized by the sporting goods retailer REI, and sponsored by Smith Optics. Sharp initially declined, but his manager suggested that the band, who were then working on the multimedia project Songs About Time, submit the song "Colorado."

The video January Six, from the Films About Weeks segment of Songs About Time, documents the recording process for "Colorado." The song's intro is a collage of strings and synthesizer. The band attempted nontraditional methods of recording for the song, including drum beats programmed into a keyboard and drumming on the floor of the studio.

Personnel

• Matt Sharp - vocals
• Dan Joeright - percussion (digital keyboard drums, drum set)
• Lauren Chipman - keyboards, strings
• Jamie Blake - vocals, percussion

Lyrics

Sometime tomorrow, Sloan steps out to the road
She packs her bags and loads them up
And off she goes to Colorado
But why Colorado, she don’t know

On the ride, right by her side
Is her dog Joe
Books on tape help her mind escape
As a cold wind blows to Colorado
Why Colorado, she don’t know

As she was leaving from LA
I could not give her one reason to stay
But the reason she’s got to go
Well, we both know
Know why she goes out to the road
Why to Colorado, I don’t know

The mountainside broke through the night and killed the radio
The voices of the station quickly faded, coast to coast
In the shadows, the static of the station slowly rose

With her mind at rest in her thoughtlessness
In a haze of falling snow
Her weightless dream fell to the street
And melted as she rolled to Colorado
Still, why Colorado, she don’t know

Colorado
Will she find Colorado? I don’t know

But, as she was leaving from LA
I could not give her one reason to stay
But the reason she’s got to go
Well, we both know
I know why she goes out to the road
But why to Colorado, I don’t know

As she was leaving from LA
I could not give her one reason to stay
But, the reason she’s got to go
Well, we both know
I know why she goes out to the road
But why to Colorado, I don’t know

See also

• "A few words about Colorado from Matt & The Rentals"
• List of Matt Sharp songs
• Songs About Time