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"Cars" is a 1979 song by Gary Numan
Gary Numan

Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of commercial electronic music and has been described as the "King of synthpop." Numan is widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars "....
, released as a single
Single (music)

In the record industry, a single is a song usually used from a current or upcoming album to promote the album. Singles are distributed through a number of ways; originally, they were packaged as "single" records with one or two other songs and sold before the release of the album....
 from the album The Pleasure Principle
The Pleasure Principle (album)

The Pleasure Principle is the third studio album, and debut album under his own name, by electronic music pioneer Gary Numan, released in 1979....
. It reached the top of the charts in several countries and today is considered a New Wave
New Wave music

New Wave is a genre of rock music which originated from the late 1970s. It emerged from punk rock as a reaction against the popular music of the 1970s....
 staple. Reaching number 1 in 1979 in the UK charts and #9 on the Billboard charts, in the US, in 1980.

The song was the first release credited solely to Gary Numan after he dropped the band name Tubeway Army
Tubeway Army

Tubeway Army was a London-based Punk rock and New Wave music band led by singer/guitarist Gary Numan . Tubeway Army was the first band of the post-punk era to have an electronic hit, with the single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and its parent album, Replicas , topping the UK Album Chart in mid 1979....
, with which he had released four singles and two LPs
Gramophone record

A gramophone record is an analog signal sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc....
, including the number one hit "Are 'Friends' Electric?
Are 'Friends' Electric?

"Are 'Friends' Electric?" is a 1979 song by Gary Numan, released under the name Tubeway Army as a single and on the album Replicas . The single reached number 1 in the UK in June 1979, remaining there for four weeks, and was the first of two chart toppers for Numan that year, the other being "Cars "....
", and its parent album, Replicas
Replicas (album)

Replicas is an album by Gary Numan and Tubeway Army, released in 1979. It was the second and final Tubeway Army Gramophone record, following a Tubeway Army the previous year....
.






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"Cars" is a 1979 song by Gary Numan
Gary Numan

Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of commercial electronic music and has been described as the "King of synthpop." Numan is widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars "....
, released as a single
Single (music)

In the record industry, a single is a song usually used from a current or upcoming album to promote the album. Singles are distributed through a number of ways; originally, they were packaged as "single" records with one or two other songs and sold before the release of the album....
 from the album The Pleasure Principle
The Pleasure Principle (album)

The Pleasure Principle is the third studio album, and debut album under his own name, by electronic music pioneer Gary Numan, released in 1979....
. It reached the top of the charts in several countries and today is considered a New Wave
New Wave music

New Wave is a genre of rock music which originated from the late 1970s. It emerged from punk rock as a reaction against the popular music of the 1970s....
 staple. Reaching number 1 in 1979 in the UK charts and #9 on the Billboard charts, in the US, in 1980.

The song was the first release credited solely to Gary Numan after he dropped the band name Tubeway Army
Tubeway Army

Tubeway Army was a London-based Punk rock and New Wave music band led by singer/guitarist Gary Numan . Tubeway Army was the first band of the post-punk era to have an electronic hit, with the single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and its parent album, Replicas , topping the UK Album Chart in mid 1979....
, with which he had released four singles and two LPs
Gramophone record

A gramophone record is an analog signal sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc....
, including the number one hit "Are 'Friends' Electric?
Are 'Friends' Electric?

"Are 'Friends' Electric?" is a 1979 song by Gary Numan, released under the name Tubeway Army as a single and on the album Replicas . The single reached number 1 in the UK in June 1979, remaining there for four weeks, and was the first of two chart toppers for Numan that year, the other being "Cars "....
", and its parent album, Replicas
Replicas (album)

Replicas is an album by Gary Numan and Tubeway Army, released in 1979. It was the second and final Tubeway Army Gramophone record, following a Tubeway Army the previous year....
. Musically the new song was somewhat lighter and more pop-oriented than its predecessors, Numan later conceding that he had chart success in mind: "This was the first time I had written a song with the intention of 'maybe it could be a hit single'; I was writing this before "Are 'Friends' Electric?" happened".

Music and lyrics

"Cars" is based on two musical sections: a verse/instrumental break, and a bridge. The recording features a conventional rock rhythm section
Rhythm section

A rhythm section is the musicians in a popular music musical band or musical ensemble who establish the rhythmic pulse of a song or musical piece, and who lay down the chordal structure....
 of bass guitar
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
 and drums
Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbell s, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single drummer....
, although the rest of the instruments used are analog synthesizers, principally the Minimoog
Minimoog

The Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by Bill Hemsath and Robert Moog. Released in 1971 by the original Moog Music, it was among the first widely available, portable and relatively affordable synthesizers....
 (augmenting the song's recognisable bass riff
RIFF

The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic meta-format for storing data in tagged chunks.It was introduced in 1991 by Microsoft and International Business Machines, and was presented by Microsoft as the default format for Windows 3.1x multimedia files....
) and the Polymoog Keyboard
Polymoog

The Polymoog is a polyphony analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on divide-down oscillator technology similar to organs and string synthesizers of the time, and this led to a certain lack of flexibility compared to later polyphonic synthesizers such as the Yamaha CS-80 and the Seque...
, providing austere synthetic string lines over the bass riff. The bridge section also includes a tambourine
Tambourine

The tambourine or Marine is a musical instrument of the Percussion instrument family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils"....
 part. Numan's vocal part is sung in an almost expressionless, robotic style. There is no 'chorus' as such.

According to Numan, the song's lyrics were inspired by an incident of road rage: "I was in traffic in London once and had a problem with some people in front. They tried to beat me up and get me out of the car. I locked the doors and eventually drove up on the pavement and got away from them. It's kind of to do with that. It explains how you can feel safe inside a car in the modern world... When you're in it, your whole mentality is different... It's like your own little personal empire with four wheels on it."

Video

The music video
Music video

A music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music, most commonly a pop music or rock music song with lyrics. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings....
 featured Numan's then-current backing band, including Billy Currie
Billy Currie

Billy Currie is a musician and songwriter. He is best known as the keyboard instrument player with the New Wave music band , Ultravox, who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1980s....
 from the band Ultravox
Ultravox

Ultravox are a British New Wave music band that rose to prominence in the late 1970s/early 1980s. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the early 1980s....
, though he had not actually played on the recording of "Cars". Towards the end of the video, a multitude of Gary Numans are depicted 'driving' along a Polymoog keyboard.

Release and aftermath

The original UK single was released in August 1979, backed with a non-album instrumental track called "Asylum". The U.S. B-side was "Metal", from The Pleasure Principle
The Pleasure Principle (album)

The Pleasure Principle is the third studio album, and debut album under his own name, by electronic music pioneer Gary Numan, released in 1979....
 album. The track has been a UK Top Twenty hit for Numan in three successive decades: on its original release in 1979 (making number one); in 1987 as the 'E Reg Model' remix (making number 16); and again in 1996 following its use in an advertisement for Carling
Carling

Carling is the name of a brand of lager in Canada, Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.Carling brands are currently owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company....
 Premier beer (number 17).

Numan has regularly performed the song on stage since its original release and it appears on all but one of his official live albums to date; many remixed versions have also been released over the years (see Live versions and remixes). Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo released their own hip-hop version of "Cars" on their debut Road to the Riches album in 1989. "Cars" was covered
Cover version

In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition of a previously recorded, commercially released song.In its current use, it can sometimes have a pejorative meaning — implying that the original recording should be regarded as the definitive version, usually in the sense of an "authentic" rendition, and all...
 by the Judybats
Judybats

The Judybats were an alternative rock band from Knoxville, Tennessee in the late 1980s and early 1990s. More recently, frontman Jeff Heiskell has revived the band; as a result, their album 2000 was released....
 on the 1991 single "Daylight" and by Shampoo
Shampoo (band)

Shampoo were a United Kingdom all-girl band in the 1990s, formed by Jacqui Blake and Carrie Askew....
 on the "Girl Power" single in 1995. Dave Clarke
Dave Clarke

Dave Clarke is an England Techno music Record producer and DJ, often given the status The Baron of Techno....
 performed the song on the Random tribute album in 1997, while Fear Factory
Fear Factory

Fear Factory is an American heavy metal music band. The band formed in 1989 and have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes....
 recorded a version of the song (with Numan) and released it as a single in 1999. Numan also appeared in the video. The song was also heavily sampled in the 2000 song "Koochy" by Armand van Helden
Armand Van Helden

Armand Van Helden is a record producer and remixer whose biggest commercial successes came from his remixes of the 1996 Tori Amos song "Professional Widow," which reached the top of the UK Singles Chart, and his own track "U Don't Know Me ," which was Number 1 in the United Kingdom in January 1999....
, reaching number 4 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company on behalf of the British record industry. The chart week runs from Sunday to Saturday, with the chart being printed in Music Week magazine , ChartsPlus , and published online on various sites ....
. The beat was later used for the song "Hot Wheels" by the hip hop group Jim Crow. The posthumous release of J Dilla's previously unreleased MCA album Pay Jay includes "Trucks", a hip-hop remake of "Cars".

Track listing

  1. "Cars" (Numan) – 3:44
  2. "Asylum" (Numan) – 2:30


Production credits

  • Producer
    Record producer

    In the music industry, a record producer has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, Audio mixing and audio mastering processes....
    :
    • Gary Numan


  • Musician
    Musician

    A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
    s    :
    • Gary Numan
      Gary Numan

      Gary Numan is an English singer, composer, and musician. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of commercial electronic music and has been described as the "King of synthpop." Numan is widely known for his chart-topping 1979 hits "Are 'Friends' Electric?" and "Cars "....
      : Vocals
      Singing

      Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the human voice, which is often contrasted with regular speech. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist....
      , Keyboards
      Keyboard instrument

      A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organ s as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic musical instrument....
       (Minimoog
      Minimoog

      The Minimoog is a monophonic analog synthesizer, invented by Bill Hemsath and Robert Moog. Released in 1971 by the original Moog Music, it was among the first widely available, portable and relatively affordable synthesizers....
      , Polymoog
      Polymoog

      The Polymoog is a polyphony analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on divide-down oscillator technology similar to organs and string synthesizers of the time, and this led to a certain lack of flexibility compared to later polyphonic synthesizers such as the Yamaha CS-80 and the Seque...
      ), Synthetic percussion
    • Paul Gardiner
      Paul Gardiner

      Paul Gardiner was a British musician best known for playing bass guitar with Gary Numan and Tubeway Army. He also released material under his own name....
      : Bass guitar
      Bass guitar

      The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
    • Chris Payne: Keyboards (Minimoog, Polymoog)
    • Cedric Sharpley: Drum
      Drum

      The drum is a member of the percussion instrument group, technically classified as a membranophone.. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with parts of a player's body, or with some sort of implement such as a drumstick, to produce sound....
      s, Tambourine
      Tambourine

      The tambourine or Marine is a musical instrument of the Percussion instrument family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils"....


Live versions and remixes

A selected list of Numan's official live recordings and remixes.
  • Living Ornaments '79 (1981) - live recording
  • White Noise (1985) - live recording also released on "The Live EP"
  • "Cars (E Reg Model)" (1987) - remix released as 7"/12" single (including two other 1987 mixes) and on compilation album Exhibition
  • Ghost (1987) - live recording
  • The Peel Sessions Volume 2 (1987) - 1979 live-in-studio recording for John Peel
    John Peel

    John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, Order of the British Empire , known professionally as John Peel, was an England disc jockey, radio presenter and journalist....
    's BBC Radio 1
    BBC Radio 1

    BBC Radio 1 is a United Kingdom international radio station operated by the BBC, specialising in current popular music throughout the day, with a slight bias to Rock music & Independent music music....
     show released as EP
  • The Skin Mechanic (1989) - live recording
  • "Cars ('93 Sprint)" (1993) - remix released as EP (including two 1987 mixes and three other 1993 mixes) and on compilation album The Best of Gary Numan 1978-1983
  • Dream Corrosion (1994) - live recording
  • "Cars (Premier Mix)" (1996) - reissued/rebadged 1987 remix released as single and on compilation album The Premier Hits
  • Living Ornaments '81 (1998) - live recording
  • The Mix (1998) - three remixes ("Spahn Ranch mix", "Talla 2xlc mix" and "JLAB mix")
  • Cars (1998) - Cover done by Fear Factory
  • Koochy (2000) - Cover done by Armand van Helden
    Armand Van Helden

    Armand Van Helden is a record producer and remixer whose biggest commercial successes came from his remixes of the 1996 Tori Amos song "Professional Widow," which reached the top of the UK Singles Chart, and his own track "U Don't Know Me ," which was Number 1 in the United Kingdom in January 1999....
  • Scarred (2002) - live recording
  • Hybrid (2003) - remix
  • Cars(Numanoid Mix) (2003) - Cover and remix done by Fear Factory
  • Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire (2004) - live recording
  • Living Ornaments '80 (2005) - reissued/expanded live recording originally released minus "Cars" in 1981


Pop culture occurrences

  • The song is featured in several episodes of the first season of the UK comedy series The Mighty Boosh
    The Mighty Boosh

    The Mighty Boosh, colloquially referred to as The Boosh, is the collective name for the creators of the British comedy written by and starring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding....
     (Numan himself appeared in one episode during the series' third season).


  • Was in the movie Freddy Got Fingered
    Freddy Got Fingered

    Freddy Got Fingered is a comedy film film director, screenwriting by and starring Tom Green. Some of the scenes are similar to the antics seen in his own The Tom Green Show and scenes in Road Trip....
     along with Fear Factory
    Fear Factory

    Fear Factory is an American heavy metal music band. The band formed in 1989 and have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes....
    's cover.


  • The song is featured in the 2002 videogame Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
    Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

    Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a Nonlinear gameplay action-adventure game computer game and video game designed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games....
     as part of the New Wave
    New Wave music

    New Wave is a genre of rock music which originated from the late 1970s. It emerged from punk rock as a reaction against the popular music of the 1970s....
     radio station Wave 103.


  • Was in the video game Test Drive 6
    Test Drive 6

    Test Drive 6 is a cross-platform racing game in 1999. It is the sixth entry in the Test Drive series of video games....
    ; the music video by Fear Factory
    Fear Factory

    Fear Factory is an American heavy metal music band. The band formed in 1989 and have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes....
     was accessible in the options menu for this game.


  • Parody performed by Homer Simpson
    Homer Simpson

    Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and father of the Simpson family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show The Simpsons shorts "Good Night " on April 19, 1987....
     in The Simpsons
    The Simpsons

    The Simpsons is an Television in the United States animated cartoon Situation comedy created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company....
     episode "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife
    Diatribe of a Mad Housewife

    "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons The Simpsons , which originally aired January 25 2004. Marge Simpson is inspired to write a romance novel, though after Homer Simpson hears rumours that Marge is secretly in love with Ned Flanders due to the storyline of the novel, he grows jealous....
    ".


  • Its music video was used in Beavis and Butthead.


  • Has been used in several episodes of the television drama Nip/Tuck
    Nip/Tuck

    Nip/Tuck is an United States Emmy Award- and Golden Globe Award-winning television series medical drama series created by Ryan Murphy for FX Networks....
    .


  • Was played at the end of the Family Guy
    Family Guy

    Family Guy is an animated cartoon Television in the United States Situation comedy created by Seth MacFarlane that airs on Fox Broadcasting Company and regularly on other television networks in syndication....
     episode "Whistle While Your Wife Works
    Whistle While Your Wife Works

    "Whistle While Your Wife Works" is the fifth episode of season five of Family Guy. The show originally aired on November 12, 2006, with guest stars including Drew Barrymore and Carrie Fisher....
    ", with new lyrics performed by Stewie
    Stewie Griffin

    Stewart Gilligan "Stewie" Griffin is a Character in the list of animated television series Family Guy. Stewie is obsessed with world domination and matricide, and has an ambiguous sexual orientation....
    .


  • Featured in the commercials for the Discovery Channel
    Discovery Channel

    The Discovery Channel is an United States satellite and cable TV channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications....
    's Future Car program.


  • Some of the instrumental parts were used in a commercial for ESPN
    ESPN

    ESPN is a United States cable television Television network dedicated to Broadcasting of sports events and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day....
     football
    American football

    American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for mixing strategy with physical play....
    .


  • Has appeared in advertisements for American Express
    American Express

    American Express Company , sometimes known as "AmEx" or "Amex", is a Diversification global financial services company that is headquartered in New York City, New York....
    , Carling
    Carling

    Carling is the name of a brand of lager in Canada, Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.Carling brands are currently owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company....
     beer, Little Debbie, Oldsmobile
    Oldsmobile

    Oldsmobile was a brand name of automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory....
     (the Alero
    Oldsmobile Alero

    The Oldsmobile Alero was introduced in spring 1998 as a 1999 model to replace the Oldsmobile Achieva and Oldsmobile Cutlass. The Alero went into production on April 6, 1998....
    ) and Nissan.


  • Although a parody of Kenny Chesney
    Kenny Chesney

    Kenneth Arnold "Kenny" Chesney is an American country music artist. Since 1993, Chesney has recorded thirteen albums, eleven of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA....
    's 2003 Country hit, "Big Star
    Big Star (Kenny Chesney song)

    "Big Star" is a single by United States country music singer Kenny Chesney. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in 2003....
    ", the song "New Car" by Cledus T. Judd
    Cledus T. Judd

    Barry Poole is an American country music artist who records under the name Cledus T. Judd. Known primarily for his parodies of popular country music songs, he has been called the "Weird Al" Yankovic of country music , and, like Yankovic's, his albums are usually an equal mix of original comedy songs and parodies....
     used the instrumental portion of "Cars" after each chorus, partially performed with car horns.


  • Featured in a Swedish TV commercial for the insurance company Folksam
    Folksam

    Folksam is one of the largest insurance companies in Sweden. The company headquarters are located in Stockholm. Folksam consists of the two mutual insurance companies Folksam sak and Folksam liv....
    , 2008


  • In 1980, Frank Zappa
    Frank Zappa

    Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock music, jazz, electronic music, orchestral, and musique concr?te works....
     played Cars during some live shows, but sang the lyrics to his song "In France" instead of the original ones. When "In France" was released on his 1984 album Them or Us
    Them or Us

    Them or Us is an album by Frank Zappa, released in October 1984. Its opening and closing tracks are covers: "The Closer You Are", which was written by Earl Lewis and Morgan Robinson and originally released by The Channels; and "Whippin' Post", originally recorded by The Allman Brothers Band....
    , it got its own, blues
    Blues

    Blues is a music genre based on the use of the blues chord progressions and the blue notes. Though several blues musical form s exist, the 12-bar blues chord progressions are the most frequently encountered....
     background instead.


  • In the South Park episode, Pandemic 2: The Startling, it can be heard being played by the Peruvian flute players near the end of the episode when Craig is narrating.


  • On his Bewilderness DVD, Bill Bailey
    Bill Bailey

    Mark Bailey , Stage name as Bill Bailey, is an England stand-up comedian, musician and actor, known for his appearances on Have I Got News for You, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, QI and Black Books....
     demonstrates how West Country dialects
    West Country dialects

    File:EnglandSouthWest.pngThe West Country dialects and West Country accents are generic terms applied to any of several England dialects and Accent s used by much of the indigenous population of South West England, the area popularly known as the West Country....
     are unsuited to great rock and pop music by performing a short West Country-themed version of "Cars", beginning with the line "'Ere in moi carr..."