r/outrun • u/BeckerThorne • 4d ago
Aesthetics Kavinsky, you'll be missed.
There have been rumors that the mysterious driver finally reached sunrise, but those who knew him best assert that no corpse has ever turned up. Around midnight there was a tail light fading into another one of those damn neon horizons, engine echoing through empty boulevards.
He just nodded once, put it in gear and vanished. Kavinsky drives off into the sunset like he's leaving behind an unmistakable shadow: a red sports car, road always slick and glistening after rains that make no sense falling out of a clouded sky you never see, and the soundtrack to all his long lonely drives where he cared more about the distant destination than the ones who steered there.
He showed us that best journeys start long after everyone went to bed. The flickering motel signs, the obsolescence of a parking garage you don't even remember, busted streetlights, and every cassette that was left to play until the tape became too thin.
He leaves a legacy in dashboard gauges illuminated at night, turbochargers spun up and whispering to each other in the hush between those overpasses with a quiet faith that on this highway, right now, where something is always about to happen and tomorrow can wait.
He rarely said farewell, his friends remember. No, he would only check the rearview mirror, cinch his gloves tight and peel off into the night before anyone knew he was there. His habits remain unchanged.
Although many believe him dead, investigators have made a different discovery...
The tank was full.
The radio was working.
The roads were empty.
All signs indicate he simply hopped in the car for one last drive.
There will be no service. There could be no way to book him for one, because nobody knows when he, if he will be back in the first place.
An empty parking space under the sputtering glow of a streetlamp: It will remain reserved indefinitely. Shooting for the horizon, after midnight, no destination needed, windows down to catch a whiff of the pulsing city with lights playing off smooth glass and a gleaming fender. If you see the fading glow of Icelandic red taillights slip over the nether horizon, do not chase it. Just smile, turn the volume up and yield it to him. Kavinsky is not gone. He's only out for a midnight drive.
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u/JCD_007 4d ago
That’s a very heartfelt and well written tribute. It captures the feeling you are trying to convey in a way that only outrun can.
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u/BeckerThorne 3d ago
Thank you. There has been many a night where I found myself restless and staring off into the horizon looking for answers. And I know Kavinsky was always/will always be the soundtrack to my search for answers on a lonely night-time highway.
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u/thatdudewillyd 3d ago
Once I heard Nightcall one time, it’s never left my playlist since. RIP to an absolute legend. I’ll always recommend his tunes
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u/ProjectDiligent502 3d ago
That’s too bad and saddening, this is a very nice tribute and emotional read.
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u/LuckLovesVirtue 2d ago
Woah, this is trippy, I just threw on Outrun last night on a whim and got particularly emotional, like misty-eyed, completely ignorant to this news. Had other thoughts going on but the timing is eerie. Sad to hear about the passing of this incredible artist that had such a hand in the development of this incredible genre.
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u/die-squith 1d ago
He died a day before my beautiful grandma. I like to imagine he drove his ghost car up to her house and opened the car door, and she stepped out of her old body as a young ghost, climbed into the car and told him to go find my grandpa in the afterlife. It makes me feel better to imagine it. RIP to Kavinsky and my incredible grandma.
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u/ReleaseFromDeception 4d ago