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Gimme 10: Cars

The invention of car brought up a break in the modern societies and as expected, the car found its place in modern songs, either as a symbol or as every bourgeois' dream. So today we shall take a walk on the highways. Speed up! 
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The invention of car brought up a break in the modern societies and as expected, the car found its place in modern songs, either as a symbol or as every bourgeois' dream. So today we shall take a walk on the highways. Speed up! 

1. I’m In Love With My Car – Queen
(Roger Taylor)
The drummer of the Queen wrote this song inspired by the love of Jonhathan
Harris, one of the band's roadies, for his car. It was selected as a B-side of Bohemian Rhapsody, after Taylor shut himself in a locker to persuade Freddie Mercury to accept it. The car sounds at the end come from the Alfa Romeo Taylor owned back then. It was included in the magnificent A Night At The Opera in 1975.

2. Stolen Car – Bruce Springsteen
(Bruce Springsteen)
One of the tracks from the double The River (1980) that show a turnover in
Springsteen's songwriting, just before the great Nebraska (1982). Plain and slow, the song soeaks of a broken marriage, the hero stealing a car longing to get arrested, just to prove that he exists. Springsteen himself has declared that this hero has been the standard on which many of his later songs were based. It was included in the movie Cop Land by James Mangold.

3. Fast Car – Tracy Chapman
(Tracy Chapman)
The song that made Tracy Chapman famous, who in turn opened the way for female songwriters in the
‘90s. It reached to #5 in USA and made it to British top 10, it also gave its creator a Grammy. It talks about poverty and how it passes from one generation to another. It was included in Chapman's debut album, entitled after her name, which was released in 1988.

4. Daddy’s Car – The Cardigans
(Bengt LaLagerberg-Magnus Sveningsson-Peter Svensson)
Life in 1995 is the second album by the Swedish group and came across great success, especially in Japan
. In Europe it was released as their debut, in an edition which, although it was under the same title, it was a collection of tracks from the original Life as well as their original debut, Emmerdale (1994). Songs like that show the bright feeling and eagerness for life that characterized the band's music back then.

5. Mint Car – The Cure
(Perry Bamonte-Jason Cooper-Simon Gallup-Roger O’Donnell-Robert Smith)
Robert Smith believed that this single from Wild Mood Swings in 1996 was even better than
Friday I’m In Love and that it would even make it to the charts. He was proved wrong, although the song itself did not do bad: #31 in Britain and #14 in USA.

6. Drive My Car – The Beatles
(John Lennon-Paul McCartney)
The title of the song with which Rubber Soul (1965) begins is an old blues expression for sex
. It was written by McCartney, with a little help in the lyrics by Lennon, and it belongs among the comic songs by those two, in the middle of the Beatles carreer. THe instrumentation was elaborated by Harrison, based on Respect by Ottis Redding. He played bass himself, having McCartney on the lead guitar.

7. Keep The Car Running – Arcade Fire
(Regine Chassagne-Richard Reed Parry-Win Butler-Tim Kingsbury-Will Butler-Sarah Neufield-Jeremy
Gara)
The first single out of the second album by the Canadians entitled Neon Bible (2007). Its fast rhythm is combined with anxious and nightmarish lyricΟ γρήγορος
ρυθμός του παντρεύεται με αγωνιώδεις και εφιαλτικούς στίχους, leading to a great result. As expected, it was covered by the Foo Fighters, as well as Bruce Springsteen.

8. She’ll Drive The Big Car – David Bowie
(David Bowie)
Electronic noises, harmonica, loud drums and guitars. Nothing original to that, you will argue...
Nevertheless, the extraordinary Bowie does not need much more than that to create his always special songs. From his good enough, last studio album so far, Reality (2003).

9. He Thought Of Cars – Blur
(Damon Albarn)
The lyrics by Damon Albarn, in tha middle of blasts from the guitars played in different ways by Graham
Coxon, describe in a unique way the loneliness of modern man and I believe speak for themselves: “He thought of cars/ And where/  Where to drive them/ Who to drive them with/ And there/ There was no one/ No one…” Out of The Great Escape in 1995.

10. The Back Seat Of My Car – Paul McCartney
(Paul McCartney)
The legendary closing of Ram (1971), with the unbelievebly natural melody and the enchanting instrumentation, will close our encounter for today. See you next Friday
!

* Photos from  http://auto.indiamart.com/cars/photo-gallery/vintagecars.html και www.wikipedia.org

 

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