It’s a pretty well-known fact that songs written while on acid produce the best music we have. Which is how we were gifted with Christopher Cross’s “Ride Like the Wind,” a song about a criminal on the run to Mexico, written in 1979 immediately after the songwriter dropped some acid.
According to an interview Cross did with Songfacts, “We were living in Houston at the time, and on the way down to Austin to record the songs, it was just a beautiful Texas day. I took acid. So I wrote the words on the way down from Houston to Austin on acid.”
We’ve all thought about taking acid on a beautiful Texas day, but something really spoke to Cross that day, and it produced what I think is one of the most underrated songs of the ’80s (it was released in February of 1980). Though it’s not as trippy as you’d assume a song written on acid might be, it’s occupies that perfect little niche of pump-you-up soft rock (which, if you’re looking for more of that, you’ll find it in the entirety of the Rocky IV soundtrack) – and features Michael McDonald on backing vocals! Not to mention Cross shreds the solo in this song and is genuinely just a great guitarist.
There’s also a pretty good cover of this on the Anchorman 2 soundtrack, featuring Robin Thicke on the vocals and Ron Burgundy chiming in throughout, eventually getting stuck in the recording booth and making for a pretty good outro.
So this weekend, whether you’re on the run from the cops and heading for Mexico or just out enjoying the spring weather that’s beginning to break, just make sure you ride like the wind.
