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Cadillac Ranch Lyrics
Well, there she sits buddy justa gleaming in the sun
There to greet a working man when his day is done
I'm gonna pack my pa and I'm gonna pack my aunt
I'm gonna take them down to the Cadillac Ranch
Eldorado fins, whitewalls and skirts
Rides just like a little bit of heaven here on earth
Well buddy when I die throw my body in the back
And drive me to the junkyard in my Cadillac
Cadillac, Cadillac
Long and dark, shiny and black
Open up your engines let 'em roar
Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur
James Dean in that Mercury '49
Junior Johnson runnin' thru the woods of Caroline
Even Burt Reynolds in that black Trans-Am
All gonna meet down at the Cadillac Ranch
Cadillac, Cadillac
Long and dark, shiny and black
Open up them engines let 'em roar
Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur
Hey, little girlie in the blue jeans so tight
Drivin' alone through the Wisconsin night
You're my last love baby you're my last chance
Don't let 'em take me to the Cadillac Ranch
Cadillac, Cadillac
Long and dark, shiny and black
Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away
There to greet a working man when his day is done
I'm gonna pack my pa and I'm gonna pack my aunt
I'm gonna take them down to the Cadillac Ranch
Rides just like a little bit of heaven here on earth
Well buddy when I die throw my body in the back
And drive me to the junkyard in my Cadillac
Long and dark, shiny and black
Open up your engines let 'em roar
Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur
Junior Johnson runnin' thru the woods of Caroline
Even Burt Reynolds in that black Trans-Am
All gonna meet down at the Cadillac Ranch
Long and dark, shiny and black
Open up them engines let 'em roar
Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur
Drivin' alone through the Wisconsin night
You're my last love baby you're my last chance
Don't let 'em take me to the Cadillac Ranch
Long and dark, shiny and black
Pulled up to my house today
Came and took my little girl away
Song Info
Submitted by
oofus On Jun 05, 2004
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This song was written when gas first went over a dolllar a gallon and people were trading in their big American cars for smaller Japanese ones.
The Cadillac Ranch is a metaphor for death, not an old folks home. The little girlie in the blue jeans so tight is the singer's last chance at love but she dies before the singer does, crashing somewhere, alone, in the Wisconsin night.
Yes, I always thought the Cadillac in this song was meant to be a hearse, at least in the last stanza. The Cadillac ranch then becomes the cemetery.
It's always seemed like a metaphor for death to me. Everybody at some time has to go away forever regardless of fame and fortune, type of car/race. etc.
Despite the upbeat feel of the song, it's morbid and cynical. The line "There to greet a working man when his day is done" particularly so. The average guy works his whole life and this is his reward.
Bruce loves Cadillacs but realises their built-in obsolescence. He then draws the metaphor of an aging Cadilllac with his oncoming old-age. The "Cadillac Ranch" is a metaphor for an old folks home. It's also a real place in New Mexico - a work of art comprising old Cadillacs with their tails sticking out of the ground.
@chrisb1 Interesting idea but James Dean never lived long enough to go to an old folks home.
@chrisb1 Interesting idea but James Dean never lived long enough to go to an old folks home.
wow! this song is about death. i always thought it was about cars :(
@aldo1980 I think a lot of Bruce's songs are about both cars and something else.
@aldo1980 I think a lot of Bruce's songs are about both cars and something else.
For examples, "Racing in the Street" where the persona does works on his car and does car races after work each day. But it's also about the emptiness of the working-class life. His wife/girlfriend is a shell of the person she was when he first met her at the races.
For examples, "Racing in the Street" where the persona does works on his car and does car races after work each day. But it's also about the emptiness of the working-class life. His wife/girlfriend is a shell of the person she was when he first met her at the races.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ranch