Cigarettes & Truckstops

Album: Cigarettes & Truckstops (2012)
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Songfacts®:

  • In the vein of "Midnight Train To Georgia" (which was originally a Country song), "Cigarettes & Truckstops" finds Ortega singing about traveling a great distance to be with the man she loves. It's not practical, but when everything you see brings up cherished memories, it's time to get on the bus.

    In our interview with Lindi Ortega, she explained that this song is not about heartbreak, describing it as "a song of nostalgia." Said Lindi: "It's actually more of a love song than anything else."
  • Ortega grew up in Toronto, but moved to Nashville in 2011, where she recorded this album. Many of the ghosts of Music City show up in her songwriting - she tells us that Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard are some of her influences. This song references a crossover Country classic released before her time: the line "you and I were islands in the stream" connotes the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton duet.

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