Let’s face it, a lot of songs, recent or otherwise, have cars and/or trucks in the lyrics .
But sadly, I’ve never owned such a vehicle other than that 1957 Olds, and I doubt Ike Turner was referring to a white four door post sedan when he sang “Rocket-88”.
I’ve never owned a little deuce coup; I’ve never even seen one in the metal.
I’ve never owned a 409 (Biscayne or other), and certainly not any car with four speeds, dual quad, and positraction.
And no one is going to confuse my OHC 6 Tempest with a GTO because it clearly did not have 3 deuces, a four speed, and a 389.
Bonnie Raitt did mention a 150 in her and Boz Scaggs’ 2015 song “Hell To Pay”. Seeing she’s mostly a country and western singer I’m assuming she means F-150.
I never had a F-150, but I do love that song (*).
Bonnie sings:
“And then here comes shifty and his new 150 he wants to take me for a ride.
Saying hey little mamma how ‘bout a little drama, Why don’t you just hop in inside?”
Well, that sure sounds like country.
But – finally – today I was reading a Pop Music article in the latest New Yorker (it’s too hot to go out and mow any size lawn right now) and the following lyrics in a song’s three times repeated chorus jumps out at me.
Hailey Whitters sings:
“I can be – The whiskey in your soda, the lime to your Corona
Shotgun in your Tacoma, the Audrey to your Hank
She’s got a little style and a Hollywood smile
But believe me, honey, good as money in the bank
I’m everything she is, and everything she ain’t.”
Ha! I finally made it. Kind of.
But I don’t own a shotgun. At least not yet!
Also, not sure how a long gun rack fits in a double cab Tacoma with a sliding rear window. Certainly one can’t easily reach it while driving.
Here’s the QOTD: Anybody out there who is driving – or has driven – a vehicle mentioned in a song?
And it’s really OK stretching for an answer; that’s what I am doing here.
[Non sequitur alert]
(*) God bless Boz Scaggs and Bonnie Raitt. They’re warning us … hope people listen.
[Verse 5: Boz Scaggs & Bonnie Raitt]
“Well we’ve dirtied up the waters
We pretty much trashed the earth
The butcher and the baker and everybody else
Has taken it for all its worth
Saying “me oh my, it was a big old pie
And I sure as hell filled my cup”
That Senator’s a comin’ on a big white horse
And my judge is gonna fix me up
But as I come to [gauge?] this moment
It’s time to pipe or pray
‘Cause now it’s time for the money shot baby
Times up and there’s hell to pay
You got some hell to pay”.
If you’re curious, here it is; 6 minutes and 12 seconds of pure joy.
I’ve had a few, including one I just learned from your post; it never occurred to me that anyone would refer to a Tacoma in a song. But starting from the beginning, Jada by the Pointer Sisters, “… when she drives up in that Volvo”. And then Blondie’s Rapture, “… Cadillacs and Lincoln’s too, Mercury and Subaru” (mine was a Subaru). And Subaru also gets a mention in Pink Cadillac by Springsteen, “… my love is bigger than a Honda, bigger than a Subaru”. I’ve owned a Honda too, actually a lot of them if you include motorcycles. There might be others, though probably not Vega or Fiesta or Land Cruiser, but those came to mind right away. Great question!!
“Dman” beat me to it, with Blondie’s “Subaru(s)” 😉
Good question.
Mustang Sally would cover my 1989 Mustang, but I doubt one powered by the mighty 2.3 liter four was what they had in mind.
Having owned an F-150, I guess that is covered also. Never know about that song until now.
The Beach Boys sang about her Daddy taking the Thunderbird away but, again, the intention was likely for neither a ’75 nor ’96.
Any songs about a Crown Vic? Given their use late in life, I cannot imagine there isn’t. If so, I’ve had three Crown Vics, so that is well covered.
Lastly, any songs about a 1955 Chevrolet? That would seem a natural for song.
I’ve always assumed Tom Waits’ song about his Ol’ 55 was about a Chevy. But I just checked Wikipedia and it may have been about a ‘55 Cadillac.
I was about to post almost exactly the same thing. I’ve owned three or four Mustangs, including my current 2012 convertible, but none like the “brand new Mustang…a 1965” that Wilson Pickett sang about in “Mustang Sally.”
But – not being a country music fan – I wonder if there’s a country song out there that refers to one of the trucks I’ve owned? 😁
Oh, and the closest I can think of to a Chevy reference is Eric Clayton’s “I’ve Got a Rock ’n’ Roll Heart,” which includes the line, “I get off on ‘57 Chevies.”
Hey, at least it’s a Tri-Five…
Joni Mitchell’s “Raised on Robbery:”
“First he bought a ’57 Biscayne, he put it in the ditch.
He drunk up all the rest, that son of a bitch.”
Any car buff will know what’s wrong with the lyric.
I’ve long wondered if Joni wasn’t aware that Biscaynes weren’t made until 1958, or if she was just taking poetic license because she knew the ’57 was way cooler than the ’58…
I also thought perhaps given Canada’s penchant for low-end cars and trim levels not sold in the U.S., perhaps there really were some ’57 Biscaynes in Toronto, but no, Biscaynes weren’t sold in Canada until ’58 just as in the States, although they were sold until 1975 in Canada, three years after they’d been discontinued in the U.S., and four years after they were last sold to private, non-fleet buyers.
Jason, For this QOTD, you’re allowed to [really] reach.
Not really a Jerry Lee fan, but that’s a great car song.
“Crown Victoria” by the Presidents of the United States of America. There ya go!
Jason… way late to the party here, but, + like, what 46 of us? – Regarding Mustangs and Thunderbirds, anyway.
I suppose “Little GTP, you make me fell so fine…” doesn’t quite work, regarding my one time adventurous ownership of a supercharged ’97 Grand Prix. 😉
Mine was “Love Shack” by the B-52s:
“I got me a Chrysler, it seats about 20 so hurry up and bring your juke box money”
And Jason reminded me of the Beach Boys’ “Fun Fun Fun” (“till her daddy took the T-Bird away”). I had a 61 T-Bird but it was more “Spend Spend Spend” and “Sit Sit Sit” than “Fun Fun Fun”.
Reaching permitted. This is not about driving T-Birds but rather about Bob Seger making them.
https://youtu.be/B4HMJDGfuEw
We had a ’66 Dodge Polara wagon when I was growing up – not quite a Chrysler but of course made by Chrysler Corp. so close enough that “Love Shack” ALWAYS makes me think of that old Dodge. We definitely squeezed 11, maybe 12 of us in there in my high school years, if not quite 20.
The lyrics also describe the vehicle:
“Got me a car — It’s as big as a whale!…”
Maybe it was an Imperial? 😜
https://youtu.be/9SOryJvTAGs
The one in the video is a ’65 Chrysler 300. Mine is red instead of green, so I’m covered.
/jk 😏😎
For several years I drove a 1967 Mustang coupe, one year away from the one mentioned in Mustang Sally. Still miss that car. Funny, for all of the old cars I’ve had, that’s the only one that comes to mind.
I think every time a Challenger has been mentioned in music its in a rap song. Here’s Something Else by Jadakiss.
Yo, you know I love to style on ya, blue 40-caliber
Butterfly doors on the triple black challenger.
Jadakiss mentions cars for a sake of rhyming, even if they didn’t exist yet. Examples from the early 2000’s, well before complete luxury crossover profileration:
“The world know, the Bentley truck the same color as merlot.”
“Yo, I used to have bad luck
Now you might see me in a Jag truck”
“After all that, I told her to fall back
The Ferrari truck parked in the back is all black”
Got me a Chrysler as big as a whale.
Trans-Am (Highway Wonderland) by Sammy Hagar.
Sometimes I try to forget it, but I did actually own a TransAm. Though with today’s fuel prices I find if much easier to drive 55.
Do 2 wheels count? “Little Honda” was released by the Hondells in 1964, and it’s about a Honda Super Cub. I owned a 1980 Honda C70 Passport, which was a Super Cub in all but name – Piper Aircraft had rights to the “Cub” name by then. BTW, it did not “climb hills like a Matchless”!
And having spent 20 years in Michigan, I’ve owned a “Rusty Chevrolet” as described by Da Yoopers in the song of the same name.
“I bought her a brand new Mustang, a 1965…” I have one of those.
“It should have been me…driving that Dynaflow.” When Ray Charles sang that, he was probably talking about a Roadmaster instead of a Special, but close enough.
Bob Seger sang a song called “Makin’ Thunderbirds,” and of course there was the Beach Boys’ “Fun, Fun, Fun,” but both were likely about the two seaters and not the Bullet Birds.
Paul Revere and the Raiders sang “Corvair Baby,” so I’ve got that one covered.
I don’t think there have been any songs about ’74 Firebird Esprits…the “Rockford Files Theme” maybe? 🙂 Same for Buick Skylarks and Dodge Darts… I’ve never heard a song about a Ford Focus either.
“Corvair Baby” is pure product placement. Chevrolet paid Paul Revere and the Raiders to record it, and it was released on the Columbia Special Products label and sent to Chevy dealers as a promo. The record labels say “Complimentary Copy” on them.
This was the B side; the A side was “SS 396”.
It’s called “marketing.” 😏
I remember being handed a free copy of “SS396” by Paul Revere and The Raiders at The Chevy Show, a travelling exhibition noted mostly for the “Cinesphere,” a huge, inflated geodesic dome inside of which was a large, concave projection screen and a motion picture projector outfitted with a special convex, “fish-eye” lens. The film that was shown was a 15-20 minute “marketing” film for the newest Chevrolets at the time. The film depicted the new Chevys in “lifestyle” settings and activities, with a modicum of announcer voice-over. Shown with the special lens on the projector aimed into the curved screen, was supposed to simulate a 3-D effect. Local dealers would supply two or three new Chevys to display for the public. And the whole shebang was usually set up in a shopping center parking lot. Anyone else remember these?
Maybe Hailey Whitters is offering to ride shotgun in the guy’s Tacoma, but there isn’t literally a shotgun.
Good point Staxman. I never thought of that. I don’t want to buy a shotgun anyway.
“I Been To Georgia On A Fast Train” by Willie Nelson mentions a shiny Plymouth ragtop car.
“Ford Econoline” by Nanci Griffith.
“Hot Rod Lincoln”, by Charlie Ryan.
“My friends got a Chrysler, I got a Dodge. We’re just ordinary average guys.”
-Joe Walsh
A Dodge? That’s quite a comedown from the Maserati that did 185. At least it seems Joe got his driver’s license back…
Saucilito Summernight by Diesel. We left for frisco in the Rambler…. Or Alvin Lee Detroit Diesel. Check out Mike Jones Milwaukee Vibrator. The Trashmen A Bone is good also. Flathead 6 by the Sun Demons is a Studebaker. How about the Hondells? Lots of great songs out there.
Not technically about the car, but there’s ‘Road Runner’ by Bo Diddly.
There’s a ’57 coupe in ‘Headknocker’ by Foreigner and there’s always the famous line in Bob Seger’s ‘Night Moves’ that speaks of the backseat of a ’60 Chevy.
Honorable mention should go to little known car songs like ‘SS396’ by Paul Revere and the Raiders, ‘308’ by The Malibooz, and ‘Mighty Morris Ten’ by Episode Six.
And then there’s the eponymous ‘Rocket 88’ by Jackie Brenston and His Delta Cats, generally credited as the first car song.
I’m still waiting for a car song about the Toyota Prius. I fear it’s going to be a long wait.
“Rocket 88” wasn’t the first car song, or even the first Oldsmobile song, to be a hit. “In My Merry Oldsmobile” predates it by 46 years.
As for “SS 396”, see my above comment re: its flip side “Corvair Baby”. This was more an advertisement than a song – read the verbiage in the lower right corner of the sleeve:
My uncle was a Chevy salesman, and my cousin had a copy of “SS 396,” which I heard when visiting them. I was a bit disappointed that Paul Revere & the Raiders had sold out.
I just find it lame that Chevy was paying rock bands to record songs about Chevys, as if they weren’t confident their cars were cool enough to get mentioned in songs the way Mustangs and T-birds did.
It’s called “marketing.”
Chevy also required Hertz to feature Chevys in all of Hertz’ advertising for a long while in the early-mid-1960s. Remember the TV commercial “Let Hertz…put YOOUUU… in the driver’s seat..” One version of that very commercial had an empty(!) ‘64 Impala SS convertible driving through the desert; then, as the 4-man doo-wop group (The Hi-Los, IIRC) sang the chorus (above), a man in a business suit, in a seated position, with his arms held about chest-high, came floating into frame and right into the driver’s seat of the Impala “driving” through the desert. (There was even a parody of this very commercial’s production in an obscure Jack Lemmon movie, “Good Neighbor Sam.”)
‘SS396’ was just Chevrolet trying to capitlize on the success of ‘Little GTO’ by Ronnie and the Daytonas.
Unfortunately, the latter was a much better song whereas the former came off as nothing more than a commercial jingle (which is pretty much what it was). AFAIK, it wasn’t even considered good enough to release as a commercial record for sales in stores and was just sent out to Chevy dealers as a promotion.
It’s also worth noting that ‘SS396’ was initially recorded in 1965 not that much before Paul Revere and the Raiders had any commercial hits and their rise to fame. So, they were just trying to get a little exposure (and money) with it early in their career.
According to Discogs.com, “SS 396” was a promo release to Chevrolet dealers only. It was released twice though – the more common one seems to be the one that has “Corvair Baby” on the B side, released in 1965. Since Chevrolet was winding down any advertising for the Corvair in 1967, a second version was released that year with “SS 396” now demoted to the B side and a new song, “Camaro” on side A, performed by The Cyrkle. Though not all that well remembered nowadays, The Cyrkle had two pretty big hits (“Red Rubber Ball” – co-written by Paul Simon – and “Turn Down Day”), and was an opening act for the last Beatles concerts in 1966.
The ’60 Chevy also gets a name check in Robbie Robertson’s “Somewhere Down the Crazy River.”
Whoops, it’s actually ’59. I wish I could edit these after posting.
The ’59 Chevy gets a callout in Robbie Robertson’s “Somewhere Down the Crazy River.”
“But there ain’t no Coupe de Ville hiding At the bottom of a Cracker Jack box” – Meatloaf, ‘Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad’.
Three cars mentioned in this one. Two are “I’m not talking about” and one is the feature that the song is about. RLPlaut can add one more!
https://youtu.be/sEsE-abmtT0
Thank you G. Poon.
I had no idea. So that’s two on my list.
But, where is Bowzer?
In 1958 there was a certain Nash Rambler that couldn’t get out of second gear.
For anyone including myself who’s owned a Chevy – “Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry…” from American Pie by Don McLean. Then there’s “Gooseberry was a workin’ man, he used to love that Econoline van” from “Tonight, Tonight” by Neil Young. And don’t forget. “Mercedes Benz” by Janis Joplin, which also mentions Porsches.
I once owned a very used 1960 Mercedes 220S. I doubt if that what Janis was singing about but who can say for sure. So, I will claim it.
Mine was a 62…
There’s also “Chevy Van” by Sammy Johns (IIRC) 🙂
Thunderbird and (hot rod) Lincoln – yes.
And also “80s Mercedes” by Maren Morris. Mine is an SL – like hers. “Still runs good, built to last”.
I’m unaware of any songs with a VW Rabbit (or Golf) in them. My previous cars included a Mercury Tracer and a Pontiac J2000, both of which I’m sure nobody would write a song about. I suppose the widely covered “Mercury Blues” counts (and mine was blue!), and there are certainly some songs with Pontiacs in them though most seem to specify a specific model and it’s never a J2000 or even a Sunbird.
There may not be a song about my Golf/Rabbit but at least there’s a Hot Wheels version of it! I was quite stoked when I saw this in a store and bought it, my first Hot Wheels purchase in about 35 years. Never before had I driven a car cool enough to have a Hot Wheels rendition of it.
There may be no other artist with more cars referenced in their music than Bruce Springsteen. One of many examples: “Ramrod “
“She’s a hot stepping hemi with a 4 on the floor…she’s a road runner engine in a ‘32 Ford”
Chuck Berry could give him a run for his money.
Chuck Berry wrote the book. Springsteen is a character in it.
I don’t exactly own it, but I built it up as a rat rod, my Hot Rod Lincoln. I even found an 8 track tape of the Commander Cody song. You know, the song that gets played in every country bar in history.
As for my Cadillac, well, it’s long, but not shiny and black.
I had a Viva – as in “Viva Las Vegas”
I also had a Viva, as in “The Beat” by Elvis Costello:
I’ve been a bad boy with the standard leader
My neighbor’s revving up his Vauxhall Viva
The image of someone revving a Viva is certainly intimidating!
I named one (Trans Am), which I currently own. I can name several that i’ve owned that will NEVER be named in song: Mercury Mariner, Ford LTD II, Dodge Rampage, Hyundai Elantra GT, Nissan Leaf, Dodge Caliber.
I’ve had the Big Mercedes Sedan from Sheila E’s “Glamorous Life”, the Hot Rod Lincoln (Mark VII LSC), the Little Honda (C70)… can’t believe no one in country music has ever name checked my F250, actually.
Most arcane one I can claim: Moto Guzzi, like in Cake’s “Rock and Roll Lifestyle”!
I’ll make a pitch here for two of my favorite car-related song, both classics of their respective genres. Sadly, I’ve never owned either car, but know folks who do:
>> “Beep Beep” (The Playmates, 1958)
While riding in my Cadillac
What to my surprise
A little Nash Rambler was following me
About one third my size
The guy must’ve wanted to pass me up
As he kept on tooting his horn
I’ll show him that a Cadillac is not a car to scorn
Beep, beep, beep, beep
His horn went beep, beep, beep
>> “Mercury Blues” (KC Douglas and Robert Geddins, 1949; covered by David Lindley in ’81 and Alan Jackson in ’93)
If I had money tell you what I’d do
I’d go downtown and buy a Mercury or two
I’m crazy ’bout a Mercury, I’m crazy ’bout a Mercury
I’m gonna buy me a Mercury and cruise it up and down the road
“Beep Beep” is a treasure from the opening-vocal harmony to the punchline at the end:
I learned only a few years ago that there was also a censored version of this song made for the UK market. What needed to be censored, you ask? Well, the BBC had a strict policy about not playing songs that referenced brand names and could thus be construed as advertising or product placement. So the Cadillac became a “limousine” and the Nash Rambler became a “bubble car” (like the Isetta, probably near the peak of their popularity in 1958).
Leave it to the BBC to take things to an absurd extreme. To my knowledge, neither Cadillacs nor Nash Ramblers were on offer in the British market in 1958.
There was a UK-only version of the Kinks’ “Lola” that referred to “cherry cola” instead of “Coca-Cola.”
LOL, I was going to mention that as the most famous example. The Kinks had just started a tour in America when they learned the BBC wouldn’t play their new single, and Ray Davies actually flew back to London briefly just to overdub “cherry cola” onto the tape. Nowadays you’d just send a digital file back and forth but this was 1970.
Hey, if they were recording a special noncommercial version for the BBC, why didn’t they sing “The guy must’ve wanted to overtake” instead of “…wanted to pass me out“? Right number of syllables, and as far as I know “pass me out” wasn’t really a thing anyone said; they just sang it because they needed a syllable after “me”.
“Mercury Blues” was also covered by the Steve Miller Band on their “Fly Like An Eagle” album.
Speaking of “Fly Like an Eagle”, dig this:
In “One Piece at a Time,” Johnny Cash says, “The transmission was a ’53, and the motor turned out to be a ’73.” Does that count?
https://youtu.be/5GhnV-6lqH8
There was actually a song called “’59 Volvo” by the Medallions, an R&B vocal group:
https://youtu.be/7fm7sJSz77c
“Jowett Javelin” by Harvey Andrews:
https://music.harveyandrews.com/track/jowett-javelin
For an incredible collection of car songs, look up Chrome, Smoke, and Fire. It is a a compilation by Robert Williams. The art on the album cover and picture discs is great.
All day I’ve been meaning to get around to posting “No; I can’t think of any songs about Dodge Lancers; Valiants; Volvo 164s or 245s; Dodge Spirits or Chrysler LeBarons, or Honda Accords”. But now I think about it, here’s Oregonian Neal Gladstone’s “Dodge Dart”:
(there’ve been others; e.g., Patty Larkin, but Gladstone’s is my favourite)
They got the starter sound right!
sooo… the little old lady from Pasadena doesn’t count?
I lived not far from (Denver’s) Colorado Boulevard, but I never owned a super-stock Dodge…
(They did get the starter sound right, but boyyyy, what a crummy recording of it!)
There actually is a song about a Valiant that was a major hit (#2 in US, #3 in Canada), although it would be understandable if you weren’t aware of it since the song makes no mention of what kind of car it is. But the guy who wrote and sang the song, Jim Peterik, confirms the “black sedan” in The Ides of March’s 1970 song “Vehicle” is indeed a 1964 Plymouth Valiant. As is often the case in car songs, the car only plays a supporting role. The song is really about a girl he was really into, Karen, when he was a college student. One day she asked him for a ride (to modeling school!) and he got all excited. She liked him too! But after giving her a lift a few more times, he started to realize she wasn’t into him at all, but rather was just taking advantage of him to drive her places she needed to go. He thought to himself “you don’t really care about me at all, all I am to you is your vehicle”. Now I’m an occasional songwriter and know how it’s moments like this that provide the needed inspiration to write a song and think up some original lyrics. It isn’t just me. Jim proceeded to write “Vehicle” and took his band into the recording studio for what would be their first record, a catchy song with a killer brass riff. It quickly became a huge seller and was all over the radio. Now Mr. 1964 Valiant wasn’t just some schmoe with an aging economy car but a genuine rock star, which made Karen take a bit more notice of him. After a few years of an on-and-off relationship, they wed, and to my knowledge are still married to this day. (why don’t any of my songs ever have this sort of effect? Perhaps because most of them are about breakups. Also, radio wouldn’t go anywhere near them).
Unfortunately, The Ides of March turned out to be a one-hit wonder. But Jim Peterik wouldn’t be, as he co-wrote an even bigger hit for his later 1980s band Survivor, “Eye of the Tiger”, which had several other hits like “The Search is Over” which also has a great story behind it. But none of those have Valiants in them.
Naw shit? Cool! I had no idea.
More here, including how a recording engineer almost ruined the whole thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_(song)
I miss this style of horn-based jazz/funk/rock bands that were so popular in the early ’70s. Ides of March, Tower of Power, Chicago, Earth Wind & Fire, Chase, Lighthouse, Blood Sweat & Tears, Average White Band, Weather Report, several others I can’t think of now. But horns can only play one note at once so they add 3 or 4 people to your band, none who can sing at the same time, and you don’t get paid extra for your gigs because you have 9 people in your band, so I don’t expect this style will ever get revived.
K-Jee, 1971 by the Nite-Liters. Studio version…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW2QOROBi3M
…and live:
How about a South African musical artist named after a Valiant?
Huh! I’m not much on the music, but cool RHD ’68 Valiant.
The music has no appeal for me me either, and the Afrikaans language sounds incredibly awkward here. I do like the landscapes in the video though.
I have a red c6 so Prince has me covered. And I had a Silverado before that. Sadly I cannot find a song about my 91 Lumina.
“Little Red Corvette” ranks right up there with the Beach Boys’ “Don’t Worry, Baby” for songs that are about cars, yet totally not about cars.
The best car songs that I’m acquainted with are from the ’50’s and ’60’s. Cadillac was the car that they all sang about, and I had plenty of Cadillacs. Chuck Berry’s Maybellene was about an early Fifties Coupe de Ville. I had a ’56 and ’57 Sedan de Ville, my CDVs were a ’70 and ’77. Another Chuck Berry song was, “No money down” where the salesman said, “trade in that Ford, and I’ll put you in a car that will eat up the road!” My Cadillacs surely did that! Beep! Beep! was also mentioned.
Mustang Sally had a brand new ’65, I had a ’66 back in the ’70’s. Within the last 15 years I’ve had an ’07, ’96, ’70, and an ’06. All except the ’70 are still around. There is also a version of the song Hot Rod Lincoln that featured a new “souped up” Mustang.
Eric Burdon and the Animals sang “San Franciscan Nights.” “Angels sing, leather wings. Jeans of blue, Harley Davidsons too, On a warm San Franciscan night. Old angels, young angels feel alright,. On a warm San Franciscan night.” Those lyrics seared themselves into my 13 year old brain, especially the magical name; Harley Davidson. I spent over thirty years of my adult life riding Harley Davidsons.
Low Rider, by War. Well, that was my jam for a few years!
“Rip It Up” by Little Richard includes the line, “I got a date and I won’t be late, picking her up in my 88.”
I had a Fiat 128 from 1973 to 1977, so on a number of occasions I could truthfully say I was picking up a date in my 128!
As it’s ok to stretch.
Not sure if the song by Paul Kelly, “To her door” was released in the US, but the lyrics mention “riding in a Silvertop” which most likely would have been a Ford Falcon taxi, of which I have owned several, well not the actual taxis of course.
“Black Cadillac” by the Naughty Sweeties, a great late-70s Los Angeles band, whom I saw live a few times:
https://youtu.be/qgKVpbWVBm0
When the guy says, “Kawenga!” at 3:10, this has got to be a reference to Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood.
For a deep dive on “Rocket 88,” I recommend Peter Guralnick’s biography of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips. Like all of Guralnick’s books on music, it’s excellent.
I’d argue that my Ford F150 is a staple of country music, and my first reaction was the line “Let my old Ford treat me like a Cadillac” from Clint Black’s “Summer’s Comin’ “.
Also anyone with a GMC pickup can claim “Shades of Grey” by Robert Earl Keen.
I wish I had a Ford Cortina because I can name three songs offhand. plus From a Vaxuhall Velox by Billy Bragg and MGB GT by Richard Thompson.
What happens when you play a C&W record backwards?
You get back your wife, your job, your house, your dog, and your pickup truck.
My dad’s last car was a ’95 Buick Park Avenue with the 3800. Would Bob Dylan’s “From a Buick 6” count?
Yeah, a 60 Rambler.
If you want to consider it a car.
“Cadillac Assembly Line” by Albert King:
https://youtu.be/2kowMWoM1z8
What’s interesting is that the song was written by Sir Mack Rice, who wrote “Mustang Sally.”
Gino Vanelli’s “Black Cars” features a 73/74? Mercury Cougar.
https://youtu.be/5PvuNAoG0XY
Come away with me, Lucille…
“Dead Man’s Curve” Jan and Dean. I listen to it once in a while. “All the Jag could see were my six [ I think Sting Rays had four, but…] tail lights”. Song raises the hair on my arms
I did drive a ? ’66 396? once.
The six-tailight Corvette was a popular modification. Here’s an indepth CC on it:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-six-tail-light-corvettes/
As to the song, itself, there’s an anamoly that I’ve never figured out. The narrator discusses cruising in his Sting Ray when the Jaguar pulls up and “rolled down the of window of his shiny new Jag”. I’ve never figured out why an XKE would be riding around southern CA with the windows up. Unless it was cold and he had an XKE coupe?
Well, I owned a Camaro in the past. Can’t go wrong with the Ramones. 🙂
Mercury Blues is the first that comes to mind, based on what is parked in the driveway. (Not the Allen Jackson version please)
There is also an E series out there too and I’ve loaded it and it’s predecessor Econolines many times. Tonight’s the Night from Neil Young.
A Lincoln is out there too, but being a Hybrid it isn’t much of a Hot Rod Lincoln (The Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen version please)
It’s fun how many people remember the B-52’s Love Shack, where there’s of course the reference to a “Chrysler as big as a whale”. But for a more specific model reference, there’s the earlier Planet Claire where “she” drove a “Plymouth Satellite, faster than the speed of light”.
That’s the one I always remember. And I always imagined it perhaps as a Satellite wagon, that might look a lot like the fuselage body Town & Country I drove (sometimes, when my mom let me).
Planet Claire has pink air. All the trees are red. No one ever dies there. No one has a head…
Some say she’s from Mars. Or one of the seven stars that shine up at 3:30 in the morning.
WELL SHE ISN’T!!!
Well, nobody mentioned it.
Big & Rich’s hit “Save a horse, ride a cowboy” has this line:
“And I wouldn’t trade ol’ Leroy
Or my Chevrolet for your Escalade
Or your freak parade
I’m the only John Wayne left in this town”
Ol’ Leroy is his horse, and the Chevrolet is his Silverado, mentioned in another verse: “And it kills and it thrills like the horns on my Silverado grill”
So. There’s that. I’ve owned several Silverado trucks…but no Escalades. Hahaha.
Isn’t anyone gonna mention Bitchin’ Camaro by the Dead Milkmen?
My ex had an ’81 Camaro, and her son loved the Dead Milkmen.
This song got mentioned a lot!
I referenced this song just the other day in the post about gas-only credit-cards…
…and it went a little something like this: 😉
So you’d better get out of my way
When I come through your yard
‘Cause I’ve got a bitchin’ Camaro
And an Exxon credit card
I have never owned a Mazda GLC, but I do remember the Television commercial and the catchy jingle that went with it.
Sung to the tune of “Spanish Flea” by the Herb Alpert band.
It’s Mazda’s Great Little Car.
It’s Mazda’s Great Little Car.
You left out the best part:
“It gets 45 MPG
35 MPG
Wow!
It’s a Great Little Car”
I guess it would ruin the rhythm of the song to insert the words “highway” and “city” to explain why such a Great Little Car was suddenly getting 10 mpg less than it was a few seconds earlier in the jingle.
I always sang it like this:
“It a Great Little Car
It’s Mazda’s Great Little Car
It gets 45 MPG
35 MPG
25… and going dowwwwwn…”
As a long time owner of one, I am sure that there are lots of songs mentioning Citroen 2CVs, but the English band Lloyd Oliver and the Commotions released a song with the title “2CV”, and it actually mentions the car:
She drove her mother’s car, ’twas a 2cv
I was most impressed by her casual dress
The Old 97s: “Won’t Be Home”:
https://youtu.be/8K5-as6-TGo
“I was born in the back seat of a Mustang on a cold night in the pouring rain, and the very first song that the radio sang was I won’t be home no more.”
One of my favourite lines is in Elton John’s ‘Made In England’: “I was made in England like a blue Cortina”. My parents had numerous Cortinas before my birth and while I was growing up, and my first drive was in one (albeit assembled in New Zealand and gold in colour). The same song also says “I was made in England out of Cadillac muscle”, so Elton and Bernie were being quite multi-cultural! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-OD1rodlSU
Another more obscure (but still great!) car-mentioning song is Billy Squire and Freddie Mercury’s ‘Lady With a Tenor Sax’: “There’s a lady with a tenor sax, cool baby drives a mean Cadillac”
Bow tie Daddy don’t you blow your top
Everythings’s under control
Bow tie Daddy don’t you blow your top, cause you think that your getting too old
Don’t try to do no thinking
Just go on with your drinking
And have some fun you old son of a gun
And drive home in your Lincoln.
—Frank Zappa
Not exactly a specific car, but I’ll go with James Taylor’s Traffic Jam.
Damn this traffic jam,
How I hate to be late,
It hurts my motor to go so slow.
Actually I’m not so worried about being late, although my wife is, but the “hurts my motor to go so slow” line does speak to (or about) me.
Going back to the big band/swing era I’ll nominate “Skylark” Helen Forrest with Harry James’ band.
The title at least. “Skylark” from the big band/swing era.
Lowlife by Theory of a Deadman, quite catchy…
You know I’ll be the one who gets fallin’ down drunk
At my neighbor kid’s soccer game
I got an ’82 Fiero with a car seat in the middle
Broken down on the Interstate
There’s no such thing as an 82 Fiero, also the middle part was occupied by the fuel tank.
“Buick 59, Buick” by I don’t remember whom, yes the Nash Metropolitan was sold in England, RHD no less, they sold poorly and most were dumped to American police forces as meter maid cars in 1962 .
“Beep Beep” was in fact written about the Nash Metropolitan not the Rambler but the lyrics didn’t fit .
I am loving all the lyrics and links, so much history here .
-Nate
Sometime ago, someone here, maybe Joseph? had made a reference to a song called “How Bizarre”.
The car in the video is obviously a ’68 Chevy. This was the family car when I was young, albeit a Grecian Green Custom Coupe, rather than a red convertible.
The singer in the video misidentifies this car as a ’69.
Oh, I forgot about NZ’s own OMC and How Bizarre! It’s not actually the singer who misidentifies it as a ’69, it’s the policeman he quotes in the lyrics:
Suddenly red-blue lights flash us from behind
Loud voice booming, “Please step out onto the line”
Pele preaches words of comfort, Zina just hides her eyes
Policeman taps his shades, “Is that a Chevy ’69?”
Throughout the ’60s NZ did get new Canadian-built RHD Impalas, which were often a year or more behind the American models, but that wouldn’t count in this instance as being LHD it’s an import.
Fun fact: A parody of the song was written and released in NZ shortly after How Bizarre, and is entitled ‘Stole My Car’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az-Op_d2V3s
It’s also possibly the only song which calls out the HQ Holden:
Jumped into the cop car went for a cruise around,
Ow keep your fellas eyes peeled for an HQ Holden coloured brown
Nathaniel Mayer, “Ride in My 225” (referring to a Buick Electra 225):
https://youtu.be/pI2JBRQ2kdQ
Incredible moves for a man of 60!
If obscurity counts, the Medallions “59 Volvo”. Not mine, but a friend had one.
85 horses under my hood, gives me power that’s understood.
The song doesn’t mention the car, but it was used in the TV commercials! And, yes, I had a ’78 wagon. Tan, Super Six, automatic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAUHWjnde_4&ab_channel=OsbornTramain
Another obscure oldie :
‘Pink Cadillac’ by Rusty Draper : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUbnDPICZi0
On a 78 RPM : the little ford rambled right along : https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+little+ford+rambled+right+along
-Nate
David Byrne’s “Big Blue Plymouth”, from “The Catherine Wheel”.
Also “Holding you in my Holden” from the 1950s. And “Buicks to the Moon”
“He’d Have To Get Under Get Out And Get Under To Fix Up His Automobile” (Billy Murray, 1913) – this song would cover just about any of the first several cars that I owned.
Fire engine red Coup de Ville from Brokenheartsville by Joe Nichols. Also Guitars and Cadillacs by Dwight Yoakam. Good songs, never owned the cars.
This might be of interest to any blues fans. Although I have not owned a Terraplane I recently found out that “Terraplane Blues” was the first 78 released by Robert Johnson. It was recorded in 1936 and released in 1937.