the car is named FOREVER AMBER - the pachucos would name their cars
"she looks like an ol squaw indian
she's 99 she won't go down" - this is describing the car itself, all done up in gaudy colors like an old squaw; he then goes on to say she's 99 - being playful here, he is likely referring to Highway 99, which ran through Mexico to California all the way up to Washington - it was decommissioned in the 60's; "she won't go down" is a play on words and has several meanings:
a 99-year-old squaw would certainly not "go down" - Beefheart being a little naughty here
the car itself is "hopping" on it's hydraulic system .. not ready to just "go down" and cruise low until after the peacock strutting at the car show is over (this also explains the line about the pachucos getting the blues when the umbrella is folded - that would mean the hopping is over, show's over)
Highway 99 was around for years and years; it began getting phased out in '64 but it took a long time before it was final - that Highway did not want to go down
the flowers may be actual flowers decorating part of the car, or flowers on the street itself - where the cars were slowly cruising during a lowrider parade - I saw a few pictures where flowers were littering the streets of the car parade
It's a cadaver because the pachucos would take a car and basically rework it and finish it from the ground up - make the original car 'cadaver' into something beautiful and expressive
I'm a man obsessed .. here are more thoughts:
the car is named FOREVER AMBER - the pachucos would name their cars
"she looks like an ol squaw indian she's 99 she won't go down" - this is describing the car itself, all done up in gaudy colors like an old squaw; he then goes on to say she's 99 - being playful here, he is likely referring to Highway 99, which ran through Mexico to California all the way up to Washington - it was decommissioned in the 60's; "she won't go down" is a play on words and has several meanings:
the flowers may be actual flowers decorating part of the car, or flowers on the street itself - where the cars were slowly cruising during a lowrider parade - I saw a few pictures where flowers were littering the streets of the car parade
It's a cadaver because the pachucos would take a car and basically rework it and finish it from the ground up - make the original car 'cadaver' into something beautiful and expressive