Oct 072009
 

To help distract me from the major annoyances that have followed skidding out on a slick road this morning, barely hitting the back of an SUV, then getting hit in the back by a car that did likewise to my back end, I’d like to throw down this Last Man Standing challenge.

We can include songs about motorcycle and bus accidents, but not surfing wipeouts, plane crashes, train derailments, or nuclear rocket sled explosions.

If you’re interested, the SUV suffered the slightest nick that may cost me a couple of hundred dollars to buff out (the driver was extremely cool about the whole thing, so hopefully there will be no additional problems from him). The back end of my car bumper has yet another tiny nick that’s no problem for me, regarding the woman who skidded into me. The hood of my car, however, is badly damaged thanks to SUVs having to sit so high up. Ugh. Most importantly, everybody’s healthy and the Phillies kick off their defense of their 2008 World Championship.

Share

  53 Responses to “Last Man Standing: Songs About Car Crashes”

  1. My Boyfriend’s Back has a crash inside the song, but it isn’t the topic of the song..

  2. Bowie´s Always Crashing In The Same Car (easy I know).

  3. hrrundivbakshi

    Come ON, people! The grand-daddy of them all: Detroit Rock City!

    Getting late
    I just cant wait
    Ten o’clock and I know I gotta hit the road
    First I drink, then I smoke
    Start up the car, and I try to make the midnight show

    Movin’ fast, doin’ 95
    Hit top speed but Im still movin’ much too slow
    I feel so good, I’m so alive
    I hear my song playin’ on the radio

    Twelve o’clock, I gotta rock
    There’s a truck ahead, lights starin’ at my eyes
    Oh my God, no time to turn!
    I got to laugh cause I know Im gonna die
    Why?!

  4. Don’t forget the eyeliner, hat, and double-breasted suit set! How about Gary Numan’s “Crash” from the _Dance_ album:

    What’s it like to
    Crash? The driver!

  5. Mr. Moderator

    These suggestions are bringing warmth to my heart already – and welcome aboard to those of you who are chiming in for the first time or the first time in while! If anyone can find a song specifically about SUVs having bumpers set too high above regular cars, I’ve got a special prize for you!

  6. sammymaudlin

    Coming from someone who has recently spent a great deal of time in Mr. Mod’s passenger seat I might suggest that we concentrate on crash songs related to aggressive tailgating. Of which I can think of none.

  7. BigSteve

    mickavory, are you mixing up My Boyfriend’s Back with The Leader of the Pack?

  8. The Normal – Warm Leatherette

  9. Another obvious one: A Day In The Life: “he blew his mind out in a car…”

  10. Crawling from the Wreckage (into a brand new car!)

  11. BigSteve

    Remember ‘Last Kiss’?

    Where, oh, where can my baby be?
    The Lord took her away from me.
    She’s gone to Heaven so I got to be good
    So that I can see my baby when I leave this world.

    It was recently covered by Pearl Jam, but I love the very goatee-rock name of the original artists — J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers.

  12. Mod,
    glad to hear you’re okay.

    Aside from causing unnecessary damage because they’re set o high, I think that SUVs also induce claustrophobia in those stuck behind them. My theory is that this is partially responsible for the upsurge in road rage (my own, in any event).

  13. alexmagic

    Whenever I hear “Detroit Rock City”, I keep thinking the line is “We’re goin’ to a KISS show and we’re all gonna die!”

    Anyway, Radiohead – “Airbag”

  14. motorcrash-sugarcubes
    (i hate this band and this song)

  15. wreck on the highway – Bruce Springsteen

  16. duh… Leader of the Pack!!! How could I make such a mistake..

  17. Fast Cars – The Buzzcocks?

    “I don’t wanna cause a fuss, but fast cars are so dangerous”

    unless Pete just means that you’ll get car sick 😉

  18. Another obvious one: Dead Man´s Curve by Jan & Dean. ´The last thing I remember doc, I started to swerve…´

  19. Dawn’s Highway / Newborn Awakening from An American Prayer by the Doors, in which our hero Jim, encounters a wreck on the highway and one of the dead Indians’ spirits “leaps into (his) soul”. True story.

  20. Mr. Moderator

    I feel much better with these last two suggestions having been posted. Keep ’em coming!

  21. diskojoe

    Sorry to hear about your accident, Mr. Mod & nice to know that you’re OK.

    Here’s a song that nobody mentioned yet, “Transfusion” by Nervous Norvos.

    Are Philly drivers just as nutty as Boston drivers?

    Just relax & enjoy the Phillies

  22. Transfusion, Yeah! Slip a gallon to me Allen.

    Hey Mod, Does it count if the car doesn’t actually crash but almost does and bad things happen to it?

    Rosalita
    “My tires were slashed and I almost crashed but the Lord have mercy
    and my machine she’s a dud out stuck in the mud somewhere in swamps of Jersey”

  23. Back to the Beatles:

    “Don’t Pass Me By”

    “You were in a car crash, and you lost your hair…”

    TB

  24. Daddy’s Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car – U2

  25. “Well, Joe lost control, went into a skid, and gave his life to save that buncha kids… and there at that crossroads was the end of the line, for Big Joe and Phantom 309… Red Sovine (& a great Tom Waits cover version).

  26. Ace Frehley “Rock Soldiers”

    “With a trooper in the mirror
    And Satan on my right
    We went wrong way down a one way road
    Hittin’ everything in site”

  27. Oh, and then the Payoff:

    “When I think of how my life was spared
    From that near-fatal wreck
    If the devil wants to play his card game now
    He’s gonna play without an ACE in his deck!!”

  28. buddy whelan

    “Bat Out of Hell”
    Meat Loaf !
    but that doesn’t count because it sucks so bad

  29. Mr. Moderator: Cleveland gave you Cliff Lee, and now Cleveland gives you the funniest, if not the best (but I haven’t seen a better one listed here) car crash song ever: Jimmy Cross, I Want My Baby Back. Listen and tell me I’m wrong.

    http://www.box.net/shared/0vy4g0yb87

  30. The Smiths, “there is a light that never goes out”.

    And if a double-decker bus
    Crashes into us
    To die by your side
    Is such a heavenly way to die
    And if a ten-ton truck
    Kills the both of us
    To die by your side
    Well, the pleasure, the privilege is mine

  31. Mr. Moderator

    Catching up after watching the Phils game and then working with my soccer team…

    cdm, no, “close” does not count. The car has to hit something, even if it only backs over one of those cement blocks in a parking lot.

    I’ll check out that song, chuckflack. Thanks for Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco. We love ’em!

    “Bat Out of Hell” counts no matter how bad it sucks.

    I had no idea there was a double-decker bus crash reference. Well played, cher! You are currently LAST MAN STANDING.

  32. Mr. Moderator

    Oh, and northvancoveman, that Ace Frehley lyric is beautiful. I’m putting this morning’s crash behind me.

  33. mikeydread

    Tarrilup Bridge by The Triffids. Female narrator takes it off a small town bridge. Revenge is sweet and everlasting.

    I packed my bag
    Left a note on the fridge
    And I drove off the end of the Tarrilup Bridge.

    SUVs. The international calling card of complete dickheads.

  34. mockcarr

    Too Old To Rock And Roll – Too Young To Die by Jethro Tull

    motorcycle crash –
    “and as he flies, tears in his eyes, his wind-whipped words echo the final take
    and he hits the trunk road doing around 120 with no room left to brake”

  35. alexmagic

    Radiohead’s “Killer Cars” – fast and slow versions – are about the paralyzing fear of an impending car crash.

  36. alexmagic

    Re: the current poll, is Ibanez still using “Werewolves of London” as his walk-up music this year? I can’t remember actually hearing his music, and I think I would have noticed that.

    He should really give that to Werth, especially when Werth has the full wolfman beard going. But then again, I’m convinced Werth’s use of “Heavy Metal” played a key role in last year’s World Series win.

  37. Mr. Moderator

    Alexmagic, I’ve been meaning to begin research on this year’s walk-up music. Raooooooooul has not yet used “Werewolves of London,” to my knowledge. I’ve never tuned into what his song is. I’ve also been meaning to see what Werth is now playing. I’m pretty sure he switched from “Heavy Metal” midway through this season. Whatever he’s been playing in recent weeks has surely helped his cause.

    If I get time to launch a thread on this topic today, I’ll do so. Otherwise, feel free to keep notes on your team.

  38. mmm mmmm mmm by the Crash Test Dummies

    Once there was this kid who
    Got into an accident and couldn’t come to school
    But when he finally came back
    His hair had turned from black into bright white
    He said that it was from when
    The car had smashed so hard

  39. Motorist by Jawbox.
    Cough up the belt.

  40. Nice work, shawnkilroy. But wait…

    The Wreck of the Barbie Ferrari by John Hiatt.

    Yoink!

  41. BigSteve

    A song that was one of the scrourges of my late teenage years — D.O.A. by Bloodrock.

  42. Last Kiss by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers

    “We were out on a date in my daddy’s car.
    We hadn’t driven very far.
    There in the road, straight ahead,
    A car was stalled. The engine was dead.
    I couldn’t stop so I swerved to the right.
    I’ll never forget the sound that night;
    The cryin’ tires, the bustin’ glass,
    The painful scream that I
    Heard last. “

  43. Ooops – I see Big Steve’s earlier response – I had checked

  44. “Tell Laura I Love Her”

    “He drove his car to the racing ground
    He was the youngest driver there
    The crowd roared as they started the race from the track they drove at a deadly pace

    no one knows what happend that day, how his car over turned in flames, but as they pulled him from the twisted wreck, with his dying breath, they heard him say…

    Tell Laura I lover her….”

  45. In my Weezer mode, here are some lyrics that came to mind:

    “Drivin’ home on country roads
    Sixty-five in a twenty-five zone
    In my parents Tercel
    How did we survive so well
    Throw the keys and the wheel locked up
    I almost killed every one us”

    TB

  46. BigSteve

    Devo, Come Back Jonee:

    after the tear-drops
    Jonee jumped in his datsun
    drove out on the express way
    went head-on into a semi
    his guitar is all that’s left now
    he made her cry
    now she calls his name
    Jonee you’re to blame
    come back Jonee

    I plan to wear the belt all weekend.

  47. Good BigSteve! If this thread has taught me anything, it’s to wear a seat belt.

    Click it or ticket!!

  48. No Trend – Teen Love
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYX9MzN4JTg

  49. BigSteve

    D’Oh! I am no longer wearing the belt. I hope my trousers don’t fall down. You don’t want my trousers to fall down, now do you?

  50. hey BigSteve,
    that Mick Quote used to be my outgoing message on my voicemail.

  51. BigSteve

    I’m glad someone realized I was quoting. I was worried after I saw it in print people might be creeped out.

    I haven’t had a land line in ages. Do people still have answering machine messages?

  52. dbuskirk

    “I Want My Baby Back” – Jimmy Cross

  53. Sonic Youth – In the Kingdom #19:

    Glistening highway mirage groans
    The slick surface
    Careening into first the small mammal, and then screeching along the guard
    Rail, scraping paint and throwing sparks like sheets of pure terror for
    400 yards
    Over and over

    With one final back and forth rocking motion coming to rest
    Wheeehah

    The beautiful paintjob hopelessly marred

Lost Password?

 
twitter facebook youtube