Drive – The Cars

“Drive” by the Cars, an acoustic cover by Mike Mass©, featuring Bryce Bloom.

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Liner Notes:

When it comes to the Cars, I always love the Ben Orr songs. This one is for Ben. Ric Ocasek wrote this lovely song, but Ben sang it. His understated vocal performance is filled with melancholy, as if the subtext to the question “Who’s gonna drive you home?” seems to be “…since it’s not me anymore.” It sounds more like a break-up song than a stranger wondering about the object of his affection from afar, like in Lionel Richie’s “Hello” (which I also covered recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO0X1h5zvQM). The lyrics suggest that his love has been through a lot of rough time, and he was there for her through it, and now she needs to realize he can’t be there anymore. Anyway, that’s how I hear it.

There aren’t a lot of chords to this song, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to play, at least if you choose to play it like I did. I let the bass and stomp pedal handle the main rhythmic emphasis, while having my guitar part mirror the keyboard chords that occur on the off beats (right after each bass and kick hit). It’s not that hard to play, until you try to introduce vocals into the equation. That’s when things get interesting (and require practice).

I didn’t want to use a lot of piano in the arrangement, since I was going for more of a guitar vibe. But I think the piano sprinkled in adds a lot. And who doesn’t love that middle section (with the “ba ba ba”)? 🙂 I wasn’t trying to make it harder than it needed to be, playing it with crossing hands. That was literally the easiest way I could come up with to play it, since it allows the left hand to play the 8th-notes continuously, rather than trading that part back and forth between the hands (if that makes sense).

Thanks to Wild Dog Stomp for the stomp box I’m using: https://www.wilddogstomp.com/products/bunyip/
I didn’t film the stomp part, and I didn’t perform it while playing the guitar and singing (that would have been too crazy).

My guitar is an Ovation Custom Legend, made in the U.S.A. I’m an Ovation-sponsored artist.

Thanks to Bryce for contributing the bass part. Nicely done, sir.

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Love,

-Mike