Christopher Cross - Ride Like The Wind -

The song spent four consecutive weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 , held out of the top spot only by Blondie's "Call Me".

Cross famously admitted to writing the lyrics while on LSD during a drive from Houston to Austin, Texas. Christopher Cross - Ride Like The Wind

The song's premise inspired a 1999 The Onion headline: "Christopher Cross Finally Reaches Mexican Border," a joke the singer reportedly loved. Christopher Cross on writing "Ride Like the Wind" The song spent four consecutive weeks at #2

While the melody sounds breezy, the lyrics actually tell the gritty story of a condemned multiple murderer on the run from a death-by-hanging sentence, desperate to reach the Mexican border to be free again. Christopher Cross on writing "Ride Like the Wind"

The song is legendary for its unmistakable backing vocals by Michael McDonald, which were added late in production to provide depth and contrast.