Drive (The Cars song) 3754840 224289051 2008-07-08T04:44:13Z Fluence 1220317 {{Infobox Single <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs --> | Name = Drive | Cover = The Cars - Drive.jpg | Caption = | Artist = [[The Cars]] | from Album = [[Heartbeat City]] | A-side = | B-side = | Released = September 1984 | Format = | Recorded = | Genre = [[New Wave music|New Wave]] | Length = 3:55 | Label = [[Elektra Records|Elektra]] | Writer = [[Ric Ocasek]] | Producer = [[Mutt Lange]], [[The Cars]] | Certification = | Chart position = * #3 <small> ([[Billboard Hot 100|US Hot 100]]) </small> * #4 <small> ([[UK Singles Chart]], re-release) </small> * #5 <small> ([[UK Singles Chart]], original release) </small> * #6 <small> ([[Canadian Hot 100]]) </small> | Last single = "Magic"<br/>(1984) | This single = "Drive"<br/>(1984) | Next single = "Hello Again"<br/>(1985) | Misc = }} '''"Drive"''' is a 1984 song by [[The Cars]], the third single from the band's ''[[Heartbeat City]]'' album and their biggest international hit. It was written by [[Ric Ocasek]], and produced by [[Mutt Lange]] and The Cars. Lead vocals were by Cars' bassist [[Benjamin Orr]]. "Drive" was The Cars' highest charting single in the [[United States]], peaking at #3 on the [[Billboard Hot 100]] chart. On the [[Adult Contemporary]] chart, the song went all the way to #1. It also got to #5 in the [[UK singles chart]], becoming their second biggest UK hit, then was re-released in the UK in 1985 (after the [[Live Aid]] performance at [[Wembley Stadium]]), this time charting at #4. The song was also a big hit in what was [[West Germany]], reaching #4, and in [[Canada]], reaching #6. In addition, it was famously used as part of the Live Aid concert in 1985, as the background music to a montage of clips showing poverty-stricken Africa. The song is about drug abuse. The music video for the song stars, besides Ocasek and Orr, Czech-born [[supermodel]] [[Paulina Porizkova]], who later married Ocasek. The video was directed by actor [[Timothy Hutton]]. ==Covers== * [[The Paradise Motel]] included a [[cover version|cover]] of "Drive" on their 1999 album ''Flight Paths''. * A [[New Zealand]] electronic act, [[The Strawpeople]] recorded a cover of "Drive" for their 1999 album, ''No New Messages''. [[Bic Runga]] supplied vocals. * An [[acoustic music|acoustic]] version was recorded by the [[Germany|German]] [[hard rock]] band [[Scorpions (band)|Scorpions]] for their [[Acoustica (Scorpions album)|Acoustica]] album. * [[Deftones]] include a bonus track covering this song on their 2006 album ''Saturday Night Wrist''. * Singer-songwriter [[Katrina Carlson]] had an Adult Contemporary hit in 2004 with her version of "Drive." * [[Our Lady Peace]] covered the song on their 2003 Canadian tour and subsequent [[Live (Our Lady Peace album)|DVD release]] * This song has also been covered by [[Ziggy Marley]], [[Julio Iglesias]] on his 2006 album "Romantic Classics," and [[Ruth Ann Boyle]] on her 2007 album "What About Us." * [[Jars of Clay]] recorded a cover of the song during the recording sessions for their 2006 release ''[[Good Monsters]]'', but it did not make the final track listing. However, the song was released on a [[Nettwerk]]-released promo disc entitled ''Reel To Reel, Volume 3.4''. The band has stated that the cover will be released officially on an upcoming release in 2008. * [[Blu Mar Ten]] on their album [[The Six Million Names of God]]. * [[Sarah Slean]] covered the song in various shows of her 2006-2007 tour. ==Track listing== *7" #"Drive" #"Stranger Eyes" *12" #"Drive" #"My Best Friend's Girl" #"Stranger Eyes" ==References in popular culture== {{Trivia|date=June 2008}} * The Canadian teen drama ''[[Degrassi: The Next Generation]]'', which was notable for naming each episode after a hit song from the 1980s, named an episode after this song. * The song appareared in the live action film ''[[Transformers (film)|Transformers]]'', during the scene where [[Bumblebee (Transformers)|Bumblebee]] plays the theme to encourage [[Witwicky family#Sam (Samuel James Witwicky)|Sam Witwicky]] ([[Shia LaBeouf]]) to give his love interest, [[Witwicky family#Mikaela Banes|Mikaela Banes]] ([[Megan Fox]]), a ride home. Particularly the portion of the song that says; "who's gonna drive you home, tonight?". * A short excerpt of the song was played at the Dior Couture fashion show. ==Links== * [http://youtube.com/watch?v=uBLGlb-MOGg Video on Youtube] {{The Cars}} [[Category:The Cars songs]] [[Category:1984 singles]] [[Category:Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks number-one singles]] [[Category:ARC Weekly Top 40 number-one singles]]