"Car Song" is a song by the

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

group

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by guitarist/singer Justine Frischmann and drummer Justin Welch after their departure from Suede. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave musi ...

. It was originally released in 1995 on the band's self-titled debut album. It was released as a single in North America and Australia in January 1996 but was never issued in the UK. The song received positive reviews from critics. It peaked at #33 on the US Alternative Songs chart and at #14 on the Canadian alternative chart.

Background

"Car Song" was written by Elastica's lead singer,

Justine Frischmann Justine Elinor Frischmann (born 16 September 1969) is an English artist and retired musician. After forming Suede, she co-founded the Britpop band Elastica before retiring from the music industry and pursuing a career as an artist. Early years ...

. The song is about having sex in a car.

Release

"Car Song" was first released on Elastica's self-titled debut album on 14 March 1995. Its five-track CD single was released in 1996 by

Geffen Records Geffen Records (formerly The David Geffen Company from 1980 to 1992 and Geffen Records Inc. from 1993 to 2004) is an American record label, founded in late 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the company known as Geffen Pi ...

."Car Song - Elastica"
allmusic.com. Retrieved 2 June 2011. Another version of the song, titled "Four Wheeling", was included on Elastica's compilation album, '' Elastica Radio One Sessions''.

Critical reception

"Car Song" received generally positive reviews from music critics. According to

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

, the song "makes sex in a car actually sound sexy"."Elastica - Elastica"
allmusic.com. Retrieved 2 June 2011. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

''s

Chuck Eddy Chuck Eddy (born November 26, 1960) is an American music journalist. Life and career Chuck Eddy was born in Detroit, Michigan. After starting his journalism career with ''The Village Voice'' and ''Creem'', where he published one of the first nati ...

wrote that "Justine Frischmann's awkward sex-in-a- Ford-Fiesta forwardness ("Car Song") can charm your pants off."

Chart performance

In the US, the single spent three weeks on the Alternative Songs chart and peaked at #33 on 23 December 1995. "Car Song - Elastica" billboard.com. Retrieved 2 June 2011. It also spent nine weeks on the Canadian alternative chart, peaking at #14 there."Results - RPM"
. collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2 June 2011.

In popular media

"Car Song" was included on an episode of ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The show debuted October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagship series for the network. The show ran fo ...

'' in addition to appearing on the show's soundtrack '' Our Little Corner of the World: Music from Gilmore Girls''. The song was also featured in TV show ''

Hindsight Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along phenomenon or creeping determinism, is the common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they were. After an event has occurred, people often believe ...

''.

Music video

The song's music video, directed by

Spike Jonze Adam Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze (), is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes films, commercials, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze ...

, has been described as a "futuristic thriller combining elements of ''

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Di ...

'' and Japanese monster films".Beebe, Roger and Middleton, Jason.
Medium Cool: Music Videos from Soundies to Cellphones
' (Duke University Press, 2007), p. 308.

Track list

CD single # "Car Song" P Version# "Car Song" (Live) # "Bar Bar Bar" (Demo) # "Jam" I(Live) # "Gloria" (Live)

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control 1996 singles 1995 songs Elastica songs Songs written by Justine Frischmann Songs about cars Geffen Records singles Music videos directed by Spike Jonze