People often think of poppy songs as lightweight, like candy floss, nothing but empty sugar. But sometimes, the heaviness hides itself behind the candy coating, and darkness dwells just beneath the surface.

The trio known as Fastball formed in Austin, TX in 1992. They eventually gained attention as one of the best rock bands in town, managing to score a deal with Hollywood Records, but even after releasing their debut album the band members still worked side jobs to make ends meet. That would soon change.

Preparing for their second album and stuck for a song idea, lead singer and guitarist Tony Scalzo took a tip from their manager and scoured the newspaper for inspiration. He came across the mysterious story of the Howards from Salado, Texas and the strange tale caught his imagination.

Octogenarians Lela and Raymond Howard knew exactly where they would be on June 29th, 1997. Every summer they drove ten miles from their house to the Pioneer Day celebration in Temple. Raymond had recently undergone brain surgery and Lela did all of the driving, despite recent, troubling occurrences of memory loss. Their kids offered to drive the couple to the festival but Lela demurred — it was an easy trip and they drove it every year.

When their parents didn’t arrive back home by nightfall on the day of the festival, their children called in the police and the media. There had been no word and no sightings of the pair. It seemed as if Lela and Raymond Howard had simply disappeared off the face of the earth.

Over the following days, as the search expanded throughout Texas and into neighboring states, newspapers maintained ongoing coverage about the missing couple. Tony Scalzo kept up with the story and picked up his guitar, imagining a couple who drive off and don’t want to be found. The song sounded carefree, but then again, he finished it before the resolution.

Two weeks into the search, the Howard’s car, with the deceased couple inside, was found at the bottom of a small cliff in Arkansas, hundreds of miles away from their intended destination. No one knows how they got there. Or why. The Howards had relatives in Arkansas, and occasionally vacationed in the state, so maybe Lela went on auto-pilot, but that’s a long time not to realize where you are and what was Raymond saying during this time? The mystery remains.

Fastball wondered about releasing the song, now titled “The Way,” but the lyrics mostly spoke in generalities, and offered the story a happier ending. Released as a single in January of 1998, “The Way” topped the alternative charts and became a staple on both pop and rock radio stations. Few realized the actual inspiration, the lightness belying the darkness below.

So exit to eternal summer slacking… with Fastball.