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Herbert Marshall McLuhan a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar had said, “The car has become an article of dress without which we feel uncertain, unclad, and incomplete in the urban compound.”
The thoughts soundly echoed by the global automobile market trends today. Behind the steering wheel of car, a whole new world exists and only few can actually put in words, the experience. For things that cannot be expressed – there is music. Today, we list five songs that have in some way or the other been inspired by cars, to complete the urban compound.
1. Hey Little Cobra by Carol Connors
The story behind this song involves the King of Rock Roll, Elvis Presley, two cars, Carol Connors and Caroll Shelby. Interesting mixture right? Carol’s meeting with automotive designer Caroll Shelby was because of a little accident. Connors first met Carroll Shelby after she had broken up with Elvis Presley. After smashing the front of her then boyfriend’s AC Bristol car, Connors was sent to find Shelby to see if he could put a Cobra front on an AC back. “He told me that if I wrote a song about the car and it went to No. 1, he’d give me a car. So I did,” says Connors. The song “Hey, Little Cobra” by the Rip Chords went to No. 1 in 1964. Shelby kept his promise, making Connors – the only female to ever write a hit hot rod song – the proud owner of an AC Cobra. The famous lyrics “Hey, Little Cobra/Don’t you know You’re gonna shut’em down” became a phrase synonymous with Shelby’s racing wins during his career. So that is how the AC Cobra had a song named after it. The song also features a couple of other hot-rods as well.
Here are some of the lyrics to this iconic song
Hey, Little Cobra
Don't you know
You're gonna shut'em down
I took my Cobra down to the track
Hitched to the back of my Cadillac
Everyone was there just a waiting for me
There were plenty of Stingrays and XKEs
2. Camaro by Kings of Leon
This song is about a cool girl driving a sporty Camaro. The Chevrolet Camaro was introduced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors on September 29, 1966 as a competitor to the Ford Mustang. Camaro is a French slang term for "friend" or "companion."
The lyrics to the song inspired by the Camaro are
She look so cool in her new Camaro
It's black as coal and it goes boy, go go go
I brought my fight next to her Camaro
And when I fire on a smile then she blows, she blows.
3. Mercedes-Benz by Janis Joplin
This is one prayer, I am sure most of us will be saying. A prayer for our very own Mercedes-Benz, only that Janis Joplin puts it in song. Joplin got the idea for this song after riding in Bobby Womack's (American musician) new Mercedes 600. The singer herself owned a 1965 Porsche but prays for a Mercedes-Benz in the song and sadly she never got it as she died of a heroin overdose. Joplin had said, “It’s the want of something that gives you the blues. It’s not what isn’t, it’s what you wish was that makes unhappiness.” This was the message she was trying to give out. The singer, who came into her own during the early 60s, was part of a generation that believed in a utopian anti-materialistic world. In fact, the irony of it, the song was used by Mercedes in their commercials in the 90s.
The lyrics to this supplication are
Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz.
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends.
So oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz
4. Brand New Cadillac by The Clash
It will not sound like music to many, but what gets us going is the Cadillac in the song. The song is about a woman who drives up to probably her boyfriend’s house in a red Cadillac and just keeps on driving. Like the song says, “She ain't never coming back!”. The Clash frontman, Joe Strummer, sang this song and it is believed that his love for American cars made him put the Cadillac in it but he owned a 1963 Ford Thunderbird. Winner of the first ever ‘car of the year award’, the Cadillac was an extremely popular car in the late 50s. Its wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans during that time also catapulted it to fame, thanks to its power steering. Now that’s a piece of history in a song for you.
The lyrics to this 1959 rockabilly song goes like this
My baby drove up in a brand new Cadillac
Yes she did!
My baby drove up in a brand new Cadillac
She said, "Hey, come here, Daddy!"
"I ain't never comin' back!"
5. Cars by Gary Newman
The King of Synthpop, Gary Newman, in his song Cars, brings alive what these four wheelers do. He uses the car as a haven, where we can safely remain behind closed doors. As Newman puts it, “When you're in it, your whole mentality is different... It's like your own little personal empire with four wheels on it". That’s rings true for most car drivers. Interestingly, he wrote this song inspired by a road rage incident that he was a victim of. He had said, "I was in traffic in London once and had a problem with some people in front. They tried to beat me up and get me out of the car. I locked the doors and eventually drove up on the pavement and got away from them. It's kind of to do with that.”
The lyrics to this energetic song goes like this
Here in my car
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
Here in my car
I can only receive
I can listen to you
It keeps me stable for days
In cars …..
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Do let us know if you know of similar songs that could be part of this list.
