Jerry was a race car driver
And he drove so goddamn fast
He never did win no checkered flag
But he never did come in last
Jerry was a race car driver
He'd say el sob number one
With a Bocephus sticker
On his 442 he'd light 'em up
Just for fun

Captain Pierce was a fireman
Richmond engine number three
I'll be a wealthy man when I get
A dime for all the things that
Man taught to me
Captain pierce was a strong man
Strong as any man alive
It stuck in his craw that they
Made him retire at the age of 65

Jerry was a race car driver
22 years old
Had one too many cold beers one night
And wrapped himself around a telephone pole.


Lyrics submitted by knate15, edited by Iamwarthog

Jerry Was a Race Car Driver Lyrics as written by Reid L. Iii Lalonde Les Claypool

Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing

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Jerry Was a Race Car Driver song meanings
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62 Comments

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  • +4
    General Comment

    Style is too loose? He is one of the most unique artists around, completely blows Jaco Wooten and Hamm out of the water in the ways of style. Only Les can play like Les, nevermind the fact that he's always dead on accurate even with the most difficult rhythms with a fucking six string bass which by the way is insanely difficult to manage in the first place. Les is not just a groove-machine, he is THE groove-machine.

    phynckon May 28, 2004   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    A) This song is about drinking and driving like a lot of his songs because he is strongly against drinking and driving. But Jerry isn't as put together (lyrically) as others like Buzzards of Green Hill. Very loose meaning if you know what I mean.

    B) Les is definitely the best bassist, I'm a huge fan of Vic Wooten and jaco and flea but you can so tell they learned how to play and were taught and got better as opposed to Les who never took a bass lesson and taught himself jamming with guys keeping the beat and doing his own thing. He is a pure, natural bassist, unlike the others. I have a billion analogies running through my head but I cant seem to pull one out..... it's like 3 guys go and study math and get their degrees and are amazing mathematicians while there's 1 guy who had no schooling and just had a mathematical mind and can do it naturally. That's why Les sounds so different and Primus is so weird because Les isn't the product of band class and years of being taught how to play, rather a primal urge to lay down fast, funky beats.

    primusLCon April 11, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    les claypool is the best bassist ever who can deny that?????

    DrLoveon June 21, 2003   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Apparently you haven't heard him recently. I saw Primus live a couple months ago, and during Tommy the Cat he slapped 32nd notes nonstop for about a minute. I haven't heard Jaco, Wooten, or Hamm doing that.

    ThePythonon May 25, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    i've seen victor wooten live, and it was incredible, but i think i would be more excited to see les claypool.

    amorpazon July 28, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Jerry was a racecar driver and he'd say "El Sob #1". El Sob is short for El Sobrante, California, where Les and Ler are from.

    drewzer15on February 25, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    lets not forget tim herb on this song he knows his shit quite a lot hehe

    notsleepingon October 21, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Here's what I get from the song:

    I think he may be compairing Captain Pierce to Jerry.

    Pierce is good person, and apparently had a large positive impact on Les. But it seems that he was too wreckless. He raced through life and enjoyed the thrill of it.

    "He never did win no checkered flag, but he never did come in last. "

    His lifestyle didn't get him anywhere, and in the end he crashed.

    
    Maybe it's a warning to people to take care in how they handel their time. You never know how much of it you have. I think the message is don't rush through things. But then again, I have a tendency to derive meaning from something that means nothing at all. Feel free to criticize. ^__^
    Raging_Curiosityon April 01, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is great. the lyrics are self explanitory i think.

    The "Dog will hunt" lyric is from Texas Chainsaw massacre 2. It may be imitated by les but i think the clip is taken right from the movie.

    dieloonyon February 23, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    deffinately about taking life too fast and messing up in the end.that retirement thing probably shows a hard worker, takes life at a good pase, something like that. correct me if I'm wrong, but I think les is amongst the top 5 bassists with victor wooten, jaco pastorius, stanley clarke, marcus miller, and possibly ray brown. but I agree with Awhislyle.

    BWIdrummerTAGon March 27, 2006   Link

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