When I saw Jim Adams picked cool/freeze/heat/melt for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday theme, I had every intention of sharing “Cool Fool,” a Cars anomaly co-written by Ric Ocasek and Elliot Easton.
Then a stunning video scrolled onto my Facebook feed. “March March” is one-half of a double-whammy, released June 25, the same day the Dixie Chicks dropped “dixie” and became The Chicks. A protest song from their current “Gaslighter” album, “March March” hits today’s hot button issues — gun control, global warming, women’s rights, lies masquerading as truth, and racism. The last minute is a gut punch that stopped me cold. Read the lyrics here later. Give the video your full attention. “’If your voice held no power, they wouldn’t try to silence you.’ – unknown. Use your VOICE. Use your VOTE.”
The last time I featured a Cars song for Song Lyric Sunday was September 22, 2019. That’s too long ago. This week’s theme Did/Didn’t/Do/Don’t/Does/Doesn’t gives me the opportunity to remedy that oversight. Quite a few Cars songs would fit, but I’m featuring two of the best, both relatively-unknown: “Don’t Tell Me No” and “Don’t Go To Pieces.”
As with all Cars songs, Ric Ocasek wrote both, but “Don’t Go To Pieces” is one of the few Cars songs for which he shares co-writing credit with someone — Greg Hawkes, the Cars’ “jack of all trades,” whose contributions to the Cars included keyboards, synth, sax, percussion, and background vocals.
Both songs were released as singles, but neither charted. “Don’t Tell Me No,” the second single off the Panorama album, was released in November, 1980, with “Don’t Go To Pieces” on the B-side. “Don’t Go To Pieces” was released again in January, 1981, as the B-side of the third Panorama album single “Gimme Some Slack” (which also didn’t chart.) “Don’t Go To Pieces” did not appear on a Cars album until the Just What I Needed Anthology album in 1995 but was also included with the Panorama expanded edition released in 2017. Although commercially unsuccessful, both songs are cult-favorites in the Fanorama. (Considering how many times DGTP was released, I wonder if Ric Ocasek also had a soft spot for it.)
Both songs are showcases for Benjamin Orr’s vocal versatility. I’ll start with my fave:
It’s my party, you can come
It’s my party, have some fun
It’s my dream, have a laugh
It’s my life, have a half, well
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no (I like it when you tell me slow)
It’s my transition, it’s my play
It’s my phone call to beta ray
It’s my hopscotch, light the torch
It’s my downtime, feel the scorch, well
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no (don’t tell me no)
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no, no (don’t tell me no)
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no (I don’t like it when you tell me no)
It’s my ambition, it’s my joke
It’s my teardrop, emotional smoke
It’s my mercy, it’s my plan
I want to go to futureland, well
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no, no (don’t tell me no)
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no, no (don’t tell me no)
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no (I like it when you tell me slow)
Don’t tell me no (don’t tell me no)
Don’t tell me no, no, no, no (don’t tell me no)
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no, no (don’t tell me, I don’t want to know)
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no, no (don’t tell me no)
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no, no, no, ay (don’t tell me no)
Don’t tell me no (Don’t tell me no)
Don’t tell me no, no (don’t tell me no, no, don’t tell me no)
Don’t tell me no
Don’t tell me no (don’t tell me, you have to go, don’t tell me no)
At 8:49 p.m. last Sunday, September 15, this message popped up in my Facebook feed: “Rip Ric O Omg I am in shock !!!😱😱😱.” “Somebody’s sick idea of a joke,” I thought. I searched through my slew of Cars-related FB memberships, but no where did I find any other mention of his passing. Less than ten minutes later, my feed contained nothing but reactions to the unbelievable news that the Cars’ founder Ric Ocasek had, indeed, passed. Now, a week later, the FANORAMA is still reeling.
To many, Ric was a lyrical genius and a hero/role model. His music and creativity inspired so many musicians, known and unknown, to pick up an instrument, write songs, start a band. His words and music reached in and grabbed the souls of many of us. But more than anything, Ric was the foundation of the Cars. For over a decade, together with Benjamin Orr, he gathered musicians, forming and re-forming bands for the sole purpose of playing the songs he wrote, until he found the magical combination that joined with him and Benjamin to become the Cars: Greg Hawkes, Elliot Easton, and David Robinson. The Cars would not have been the Cars without them. After Ben passed away, the other Cars didn’t even try to replace him when they put out an album of new music in 2011. But make no mistake: Without Ric Ocasek there will be no new Cars music, no reunion album. No Cars.
When I got that first Facebook notification last Sunday, I was looking at the Song Lyric Sunday schedule, trying to decide what to write. I was too stunned to write anything last week, but I knew then what song I’d pick for this week’s theme of Clothing/Hat/Pants/Scarf/Shirt/Shoes/Tie: “Magic Pants (a.k.a. Crazy Rock and Roll)” by Ric’s last pre-Cars band, Cap’n Swing. I’ve loved this song from my first listen because it is one of the few Ric (presumably) wrote that could have only one interpretation. It was all about Ric (Cap’n Swing) and Ben (Magic Pants) trying to make it in the music business. Now, somewhere in the universe, I hope Cap’n Swing and Magic Pants are making music again together.
Note: the picture on the video is the Cars, but (to my knowledge) no pictures of the Cap’n Swing band exist. Three of the Cars were in Cap’n Swing: Elliot Easton (center), Ric Ocasek (jumping), and Benjamin Orr (right).
Cap’n Swing and Magic Pants they were floating down the street
Trying to get a gig or two where they can get some heat
Everybody feels their presence, everybody flows
Find a groove to settle in, let your feelings be the show
It will make you want to flow, crazy rock and roll, it’ll make you want to flow
Cap’n Swing and Magic Pants, they were shooting out their licks
Shooting out their music if you think you need a fix
Everybody feels their presence, some of you have heard
With Cap’n Swing and Magic Pants, listen is the word
It will make you want to flow, crazy rock and roll, it’ll make you want to flow
Yeah yeah
You know that Cap’n Swing and Magic Pants they were floating down the street
Trying to get a gig or two where they can get some heat
Everybody feels their presence, everybody flows
Find a groove to settle in, let your feelings be the show
It will make you want to flow, crazy rock and roll, it’ll make you want to flow
J.E.M. Wildfire 