Laced with dark humor and melancholy and comedy, which is basically dark humor; The Cars create an impressive Pop jingle to be out and out reckoned with. This tune opens up their fourth record “Shake It Up” from 1981, an album laced with more than a handful of gems. The lyrical content is a series of sad scenarios, and the lyrics are kept rather simplistic might one add, such as that of Susan bleedin’ Vega, mate. As with the best of Pop, this jam is just a little over three minutes in length. The rhythmic quality is quite strange, sort of like Buddy Holly meets DEVO and has a three-faced snake-baby from Hell (something like that anyhow). Hell, this is almost a blues number based upon the lyrics as well, but Ric Ocasek has always sounded like a half-asleep robot, so what is one supposed to do in this instance, playa hater? Just sit back and enjoy the catchy grooves!

The real theme here in this Pop anthem is a sense of both longing and regret, and the guitar noodling sounds like something out of The Guess Who’s “American Woman”. This band was always successful when it came to big hooks, and their slick studio output was truly a marvel of technology combined with their unique knack for New Wave ear candy, like some sort of bisexual Jessica Tandy eating cheese crackers in Heaven’s third layer and a bear hug from a pirate named Carl the Bart. It’s a strange world. So, this is my viewpoint; and of the many classic singles by The Cars this is no doubt my very favorite indeed.

New Wave, Ric Ocasek, The Cars

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