Toronto-based trio The Rural Alberta Advantage (Nils Edenloff, Amy Cole, an… Read Full Bio ↴Toronto-based trio The Rural Alberta Advantage (Nils Edenloff, Amy Cole, and Paul Banwatt) play indie-rock songs about hometowns and heartbreak, born out of images from growing up in Central and Northern Alberta. They sing about summers in the Rockies and winters on the farm, ice breakups in the spring time and the oil boom’s charm, the mine workers on compressed, the equally depressed, the city’s slow growth and the country’s wild rose, but mostly the songs just try to embrace the advantage of growing up in Alberta.

Four Night Rider
The Rural Alberta Advantage Lyrics

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Cold wind whipping through the windows
Freezing each of the lymph nodes
Maybe we gotta try
To get out of town tonight

Well, I love you
You know you love me and it shows
Maybe we gotta try

Let's crash at your place tonight

Grandpa's passed out on the couch
Take the greenbelt to your house
There's a shortcut through the forest that smells
There's a shortcut through the forest that smells

As we hit the front door
All the clothes hit the floor
Maybe we gotta try
To bike outta town tonight

Well, I love you
You know you love me and it shows
Edmonton's just a four night bike ride outta town

Cold wind whipping through the windows
Freezing each of the lymph nodes
Maybe we gotta try

And I love you

And you know you love me and it shows
Edmonton's just a four night bike ride outta town

Overall Meaning

The song "Four Night Rider" by The Rural Alberta Advantage is a rousing and romantic ode to youthful adventure and rebellion. The lyrics describe a couple who are feeling stifled and bored with their small-town life and decide to take a spontaneous trip to the city of Edmonton, which is four nights' bike ride away. The opening lines set the scene with vivid detail - the cold wind outside is making their lymph nodes ache, which suggests a sense of physical discomfort that matches their emotional restlessness. Despite the obstacles in their way, such as the sleeping grandfather and the need to take a shortcut through a forest, the couple is determined to make their escape and enjoy each other's company.

The chorus repeats the phrase "well, I love you, you know you love me and it shows," which reinforces the theme of connection and reinforces their bond. The repetition also serves to drive home the urgency of their desire to escape, as if they are trying to convince themselves that they can do it. The final lines of the song, "Edmonton's just a four night bike ride outta town," offer a hopeful note of possibility and suggest that even if they don't make it all the way to their destination, the journey itself is worth taking.

Overall, "Four Night Rider" is a perfect example of The Rural Alberta Advantage's signature blend of folk-inspired music and emotionally charged lyrics. It captures the yearning for adventure and the thrill of breaking free from the confines of small-town life.

Line by Line Meaning

Cold wind whipping through the windows
The cold wind is blowing inside the car from outside through the windows

Freezing each of the lymph nodes
It is so cold that it is affecting the singer's lymph nodes

Maybe we gotta try
Maybe they need to try something different

To get out of town tonight
Leave the town tonight

Well, I love you
The singer loves his/her partner

You know you love me and it shows
Partner's love is visible

Let's crash at your place tonight
They will spend the night at partner's house

Grandpa's passed out on the couch
Grandpa is asleep on the sofa

Take the greenbelt to your house
They will use the greenbelt as a means to reach partner's house

There's a shortcut through the forest that smells
There's a forest route that smells different

As we hit the front door
As they reach the front door of partner's house