Fastball’s 1998 hit ‘The Way’ was inspired by the disappearance of elderly Texas couple Lela and Raymond Howard. Although the song imagines an adventurous escape, the couple’s real story ended tragically, highlighting the contrast between artistic reinterpretation and the painful circumstances behind it.

The Howards disappeared in June 1997 after attending Temple’s Pioneer Day Festival, despite Raymond’s recent brain surgery and Lela’s Alzheimer’s symptoms. Their bodies were found 13 days later at the bottom of a cliff near Hot Springs, Arkansas; lead singer Tony Scalzo wrote most of the song while they were still missing, and the family later recognised parallels between the lyrics and their journey.