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Most Great Car Songs Are About Volvos, Expert Reports

 

Volvo Cars of North America Releases List of

 

"All Time Greatest Songs About Volvos"

 

NEW YORK, MARCH 27, 2002 -- Bruce Springsteen sang about a "Pink Cadillac;" Janis Joplin prayed for a "Mercedes Benz;" Prince immortalized a "Little Red Corvette;" and the Beach Boys boasted about their "Little Deuce Coupe." Any music fan will agree that cars are one of the most frequent themes in popular music. Experts at Volvo Cars of North America add that most of the best car songs in the history of modern music have been written about Volvos.

 

"Some say 'they don't write songs about Volvos.' On the contrary, while songwriters have made Chevys, Corvettes, Cadillacs, Mercedes and the like the basis for a lot of good songs, we contend that the greatest car songs almost always are about Volvos," said Helen Gorr, a person at Volvo Cars who listens to a lot of music. "That's outstanding, considering no word in the English language rhymes with 'Volvo,' except maybe 'Geraldo,' but that's kind of stretching it."

 

To illustrate her point, Gorr and Volvo Cars recently commissioned musicologists to conduct numerous focus groups, peruse recorded music catalogs and research past music-sales charts to determine the official "All Time Top 10 Greatest Songs About Volvos." The Swedish auto maker today released the list of songs, in no particular order:

 

1. "An Old Volvo," Tom and Ellen Demarest.

 

"Recorded by a couple in Oregon about their love for--you guessed it--their old Volvo (a 1968 142), the song made it onto National Public Radio's 'Car Talk' last year," Gorr said.

 

2. "Volvo Cowgirl 99," Sheryl Crow.

 

"This one was the B-side to one of Sheryl Crow's singles from the early-90s. To be honest, I've never heard this song, I just read about it on the Web, but Sheryl Crow is a very popular artist so we put it on the list."

 

3. "Take it Easy," the Eagles. "

 

Actually, this song doesn't mention Volvo, but we thought we'd include it in here because it's such a great song. Plus, the Eagles were from Southern California, and Volvo now has its North American headquarters in Irvine, so that has to count for something."

 

4. "Live in Volvo," Vinicio Capossela. "

 

This is an artist from Italy, and actually, it's the title to an album, not a song. It came up when I typed 'Volvo' as a search term on Amazon."

 

5. "Drive My Car," The Beatles.

 

"I love the Beatles, and I especially love this song. Does the song include Volvo in the lyrics? Not really, but the fact is, Paul never mentions the brand of car he wants the girl to drive. So, you can't rule out that John and Paul were driving a Volvo when they wrote this number."

 

6. "En gammal Amazon," Svenne Rubins.

 

"That's 'An Old Amazon' in English. It was a huge, catchy hit in Sweden in the early-90s, about a guy who finally realizes he can no longer suppress his dream of having an old Volvo Amazon - California White with black interior. It was a hit because it represents a dream we all have."

 

7. "Volvo Man," Scared Little Weird Guys.

 

"This is by an award-winning comedy band from Australia. The singers artfully define their integrity by comparing themselves to a Volvo. I'd love to quote their lyrics here, but I don't have permission from the publisher, so I'm afraid they'd sue me."

 

8. "Funkytown," Lipps, Inc.

 

"A huge disco hit 20 years ago. It doesn't mention Volvo specifically. But, the lyrics 'Gotta move on!' sound a lot like 'Gotta new Volvo!'"

 

9. "Jennifer and the Ess-Dog," Stephen Malkmus.

 

"Just did a search on Google, and I found this one. The third verse talks about a frisbee being in someone's Volvo. Research indicates people who drive Volvos like to throw frisbees."

 

10. "Swing Low Swede Volvo," Old Mission, San Diego Rotary Club.

 

"Here again, thanks to Google, I found out that the Old Mission, San Diego Rotary Club wrote this in 2000 to honor their then outgoing president Russ Vuich. From what I can tell by the lyrics, he drove a 960. Good for you, Russ! And good for Volvo!"

 

"For years, other auto makers have boasted that the best rock songs are about their cars," said Gorr. "We feel this list puts that debate to rest once and for all. We also feel this is a great list for any budding musician or songwriter to check out for inspiration on future Volvo songs."

Contact:

 

Sören Johansson,

Volvo Cars of North America, 949-341-6719,

sjohan44@volvocars.com.

 

Media:

To download a sampling of these songs, we wish you the best of luck in finding them.

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