Fans Are Realizing A Huge '90s Hit Is About A Real Unsolved Mystery

It was a massive hit for the band, their only real chart-topper, and it propelled their album All the Pain Money Can Buy to platinum status.

But how many of us who turned on the radio that year knew that "The Way" had some dark origins?

Naturally, drama ensues when their car breaks down and they have to forge ahead on foot, but the song suggests they're still happy to be leaving their lives behind all the same.

However, the real story that inspired the song doesn't go quite the same way, unfortunately.

It's a heartbreaking tale. Lela and Raymond were both in their 80s and not in great shape to travel. Lela, 83, had started showing signs of Alzheimer's, while her husband Raymond, 88, was recovering from a stroke and brain surgery.

Although their son begged to drive them, Lela and Howard insisted they were well enough to drive themselves.

When they hadn't returned by eight o'clock that evening, the alarmed family put out a notice that played on TV that night.

They were 500 miles from home, and Lela, who was driving, couldn't tell the officer where they lived. The officer issued a warning to turn on their lights and sent them on their way.

Another stopped them soon after for driving with their high beams on, and also let them proceed with a warning. Neither officer realized the couple were missing.

A search of their home showed just how disoriented the couple had been before leaving, as the calendar was still on February, and they had left their cat, toiletries, and clothing behind.

Reading about the Howards' case, Scalzo felt inspired.

"I just started getting these ideas, well maybe they don't want to be found, maybe they're just like - they're sick of being responsible and they just want to go out and have fun," he told KVUE.

So, he sat down and wrote out "The Way," and later played it for his band. Almost immediately, they decided to record the song that would become their biggest hit.

After the stops in Arkansas, they thought they had a good spot to start looking, as the stop had come close to a relative's home, and in their search, they covered hundreds of miles.

But two weeks passed before a break in the case finally happened.

"Two boys, walking home from a video store," Lela's granddaughter, Rhonda Alford Coleman, told KVUE. "Their father left them at the video store and they were going to walk home. As they walked home, they walked by this little creek area. And it had a strong smell, a strong odor, so when they got home, they told their parents, and that's when all of it started."

What exactly happened to the pair over those two weeks and when they went over the cliff remains a mystery. However, authorities noted that no skid marks were present at the top of the cliff. It's unknown whether they died as a result of the crash, or if they died later.

Scalzo later referred to the song as a "romanticized take" on the events. But the family were fans all the same.

"I was just blown away, I just couldn't believe somebody would do something like that for my grandma," Lela's grandson, Randy Alford, told KVUE. "Powerful, very powerful.

And when you read the lyrics now that you know the story, it's all quite chilling.

"They made up their minds

And they started packing

They left before the sun came up that day

An exit to eternal summer slacking

But where were they going without ever knowing the way?"

h/t: KVUE