Credit: Far Out / ACDC
Sat 17 October 2026 12:00, UK
The greatest thing about AC/DC as a band? You don’t have to overthink their music to enjoy it.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and place for the more sentient approaches to rock and roll, the sort pioneered by psychedelic rock bands or those introducing jazz fusion into the genre. Without the innovation of those bands, songs and albums, music would never have moved forward. But when you’re talking about the gritty get-down and rock and roll release, there’s no band that can do it better than the Australians.
Their songs rarely had hidden meanings and were more frankly designed to give an honest and excited slice-of-life tale. Take ‘Highway To Hell’ for example, a relatively simple song structured around a trusted four-chord arrangement and lyrical hook, that was inspired by nothing more than an old bus ride the band used to take.
It came from a stretch of road that ran from where Bon Scott lived in Fremantle and ended at a pub/bar called The Raffles, which was a microcosm of the AC/DC rock and roll spirit. Really called the Canning Highway but duly dubbed the ‘Highway to Hell’, it was a simple symbol of the sort of debauchery that followed the band in their private lives.
That was it, nothing more or nothing less. The sort of song that could perfectly distil this straightforward essence of a band whose sole purpose was to provide unbridled musical thrills for its audience. But in doing so, and becoming so universal, they inadvertently wrote a global anthem in ‘Highway to Hell’, one that ultimately took on more meaning than just the simple pilgrimage from Scott’s home to the front of the bar at Raffles.
After becoming the first AC/DC song to chart in the US, it became something of an anthem for living life in the fast lane, soundtracked by the pure sounds of rock and roll for newfound fans of the band. Even though Angus Young grew up on those same dusty streets as Scott and knew just how colloquial the song was to them, he saw it change in real time.
“‘Highway to Hell’ was a big statement at the time.”
Angus Young
He shed light on why that was by adding, “We were slogging it out; we were touring so much, it didn’t stop. You’d be in America, and then you’re on a plane to Europe to do two weeks there, and then you’re back here, and then fly back to Europe and do a couple of summer shows, crisscrossing the globe.”
Further reading: From The Vault
Concluding, “‘Highway To Hell’ probably sums up what you would call our career up till then: it was a highway to hell! It was one big bus trip, touring and playing, rocking and rolling, partying and boogying.”
By following their musical instincts and writing songs that were unflinchingly honest and simple, they allowed themselves to become the ubiquitously loved band that they were and are. What started as a bus trip to The Raffles became a global tour for the band, which then became one party bus for the whole musical world to enjoy, allowing everyone who joined the AC/DC ride to be a part of the ‘Highway to Hell’.
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