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Brand New Cadillac Lyrics

Driiiiiiiive!!!
Driiiiiiiive!!!

My baby drove up in a brand new Cadillac
Yes she did!
My baby drove up in a brand new Cadillac
She said, "Hey, come here, Daddy!"
"I ain't never comin' back!"

Baby, baby, won't you hear my plea?
C'mon, sugar, just come on back to me
She said, "Balls to you, Big Daddy."
She ain't never coming back!

Baby, baby, won't you hear my plea?
Oh c'mon, just hear my plea
She said, "Balls to you, Daddy."
She ain't coming back to me

Baby, baby drove up in a Cadillac
I said, "Jesus Christ! Where'd you get that cadillac?"
She said, "Balls to you, Daddy."
She ain't never coming back!
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Cover art for Brand New Cadillac lyrics by Clash, The

This is a cover of Vince Taylor's 1958 original, in case anyone was wondering.

Cover art for Brand New Cadillac lyrics by Clash, The

A tale of a cheap-skate girlfriend who stole money from her boyfriend to buy a Cadillac and dump him shortly afterward.

Cover art for Brand New Cadillac lyrics by Clash, The

Great song. I love how he sings cadillac. I think's its about a girl who's cheating on her boyfriend with a rich guy, and when the rich guy gets her a cadillac, she just goes to rub it into her boyfriend's face and then dumps him. That's how I've always seen it, though it might not be what they intended when they wrote the song.

Cover art for Brand New Cadillac lyrics by Clash, The

To me, the dude is the bad guy here. He has been her sugar daddy for years and expects her to stay "in her place" and be what a nice piece of arm candy does: look good, go out with him on his arm and then stay at home, cook, clean, raise kids, whatever.

So, one day, when he gets home as usual, instead of his lady being there with a hot dinner waiting, she pulls up in her brand new Cadillac. Bought using HIS money (in his mind), but didn't SHE earn it by being his accessory, maid, nanny and whatever else? She EARNED the Cadillac and it's hers.

So, she says, "Balls to you, Daddy, I'm outta here. My stuff is all in the trunk anyway. The jewelry, some nice clothes and nothing else. I cleaned out your accounts and the money is in an offshore account in the Cayman Islands. Bye!" And in England, "balls to you" means "f*** you," just in a Cockney, East-end kind of way.

Then she quietly drives away, out of his life forever. The next stop is him singing "The Grand Tour" by George Jones, but that is another song.

Negative
Subjective
Anger
Revenge
Empowerment
Betrayal
Freedom
Wealth
Cover art for Brand New Cadillac lyrics by Clash, The

To me, the dude is the bad guy here. He has been her sugar daddy for years and expects her to stay "in her place" and be what a nice piece of arm candy does: look good, go out with him on his arm and then stay at home, cook, clean, raise kids, whatever.

So, one day, when he gets home as usual, instead of his lady being there with a hot dinner waiting, she pulls up in her brand new Cadillac. Bought using HIS money (in his mind), but didn't SHE earn it by being his accessory, maid, nanny and whatever else? She EARNED the Cadillac and it's hers.

So, she says, "Balls to you, Daddy, I'm outta here. My stuff is all in the trunk anyway. The jewelry, some nice clothes and nothing else. I cleaned out your accounts and the money is in an offshore account in the Cayman Islands. Bye!" And in England, "balls to you" means "f*** you," just in a Cockney, East-end kind of way.

Then she quietly drives away, out of his life forever. The next stop is him singing "The Grand Tour" by George Jones, but that is another song.

Negative
Subjective
Anger
Revenge
Independence
Money
Breakup
Betrayal
Cover art for Brand New Cadillac lyrics by Clash, The

I saw the Australian band You Am I do a really good cover of this song shortly after Joe Strummer died, it really went over well.

Cover art for Brand New Cadillac lyrics by Clash, The

A tale of a cheap-skate girlfriend who stole money from her boyfriend to buy a Cadillac and dump him shortly afterward. Good Song

Cover art for Brand New Cadillac lyrics by Clash, The

I heard a story about how they did this as a warm up but Guy Stevens who was producing London Calling recored it anyway when the CLash ound out they complained and Jones pointed out it sped up Stevens said thats great all great Rock and Roll speeds up and stuck it on the record.

From the big pink Clash book:

TOPPER: I'll always remember doing that. One take, live, Guy said, "That's it!" and I said, "You can't keep that, it speeds up!" and he said, "Great! All rock'n'roll speeds up. Take!" And from then on the sessions just cooked.

PAUL: Guy made me feel really at ease and if I played wrong notes he didn't care. After we'd played Brand New Cadillac I said I made a mistake on that and he said, "It doesn't matter, it's great."

So it doesn't seem like they didn't...

Not Valid
Cover art for Brand New Cadillac lyrics by Clash, The

Love the song, but does anyone have any idea what "Balls to you, daddy" means?

I've always sort of thought it just means "screw you".

Cover art for Brand New Cadillac lyrics by Clash, The

yeah that's right, "screw you", or "to hell with you".