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.”
Jim Adams has been giving us multi-word Song Lyric Sunday prompts for a while, so I was a little shocked to discover that this week’s prompt is one word: “Baby.” Of course, there is a Cars song for that. They recorded one I love, “Maybe Baby,” for their 1981 “Shake It Up” album.
You might think “Maybe Baby” is going to be a cover of Buddy Holly’s iconic 1957 hit, but you’d be wrong. The Cars’ song is a quirky Ric Ocasek original. I do think, however, that the song title is his sly tribute to Holly, just as his “Bye Bye Love” is (I believe) to The Everly Brothers, unless both Ocasek song titles are mere coincidences.
Following in the “coincidence” vein is this: Ocasek supervised the remastering of the 2017 release of an expanded version of the Cars’ 1980 “Panorama” album with bonus tracks. Among those is a “not previously released” song called “Be My Baby,” which is also sometimes referred to as an early version of “Maybe Baby.” Joke’s on us, peeps! They are exactly the same song, previously released in 1981. Word for word. Note for note.
Now, you may not know this, but Ric Ocasek could have been called a control freak. Nothing the Cars did — no album, cd, concert, tv appearance — occurred without Ric’s finger in the pie. Incongruously, he also enjoyed a good practical joke. Somewhere in the ether, I picture him still laughing at this one.
“Maybe Baby”
I heard stories about you
I’d like to think that they were true
I did not know you’d be like that
With those surprises under hat
Be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
Be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
Be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
When you dance between the stars
In the night late, sweet and dark
Turn them over one by one
You don’t need to jump the gun
Be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
Be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
Be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
When the night is feeling flush
And when the night is all a hush
Electric look, eclectic blue
Keep one dream that won’t come true
Be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
Be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
Be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
Be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
Maybe baby
Maybe baby
Be my, be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
Maybe baby
Maybe baby
You’re the one
Maybe baby
Maybe baby
Maybe baby
Be my, be my, be my
Be my maybe baby
Be my maybe baby
I heard stories about you
I’d like to think that they were true
Be my maybe
Be my, be my, be my, be my
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
Even when she’s not feeling great, Helen Vahdati still manages to come up with a theme for Song Lyric Sunday. I hope she’s soon feeling 100%. Thanks for giving us “boys.”
In my world, there’s a Cars song for every occasion. Here’s “Down Boys” written by Ric Ocasek; sung by Benjamin Orr for The Cars 1980 Panorama:
you were trying to be cute
and it didn’t work out
you were trying to be charming
and it didn’t come off
you were trying to be clever
a big waste of time
you were trying to get rough
but you’re waiting in line
[Chorus:]
you can’t make it with the down boys
they don’t hear a word you say
you can’t make it with the down boys
just stay out of their way
you were trying to be sharp
but they couldn’t wait
you were trying to be eternal
but that didn’t rate
you were trying to be smooth
you’re rough on the edges
you were trying to be hysterical
well i still ain’t laughing
[Chorus]
you were trying to be in
but they left you out
you were trying to be in
two different worlds
you were trying to be in
oscillation in shame
you were trying to be in
but you’re lost in the game
J.E.M. Wildfire 