Our 10 Favorite Songs That Mention Chevy

 Summer is inbound soon, and that means plenty of nights cruising with the radio on and the windows down, soaking up the warm weather, good company and music! Can you believe that since it was founded over 100 years ago, there have been over 100 hit songs of all genres that mention Chevrolet cars, trucks and vans? We couldn’t believe it either, but it’s true!

Seen below, check out our summer playlist of 10 classic hits that mention Chevrolet. And if you’re in need of a beautiful new Chevy to carry that tune, stop in today at Landers Chevrolet Cadillac of Joplin, where our selection is great and our terrific customer service will make you a customer for life!

10) “Mud on the Tires” by Brad Paisley

A number one smash for Brad Paisley, 2003’s “Mud on the Tires” is a celebration of the freedom a new vehicle can give a person and the excitement of slipping behind the wheel for the first time, starting with the lyrics: “I’ve got some big news / The bank finally came through / And I’m holdin’ the keys to a brand new Chevrolet…” What’s not to love about that?

9) “Chevrolet Deluxe” by Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is another great American artist whose songs are haunted by great cars, with The Boss’ four-wheeled co-stars often used as a metaphor for freedom and escape. One of those songs is “Chevrolet Deluxe,” off Springsteen’s smash 1980 double album “The River,” which was the first Springsteen album to hit #1 on the Billboard 200, where it spent four weeks at the top of the charts.

8) ” Go Lil’ Camaro” by The Ramones

Though the fuzzy guitars and fastball delivery of classic punk band The Ramones aren’t everybody’s cup of tea, the Hall of Fame rock n’ rollers have inspired pretty much every rock act that came after. A minor hit off “Halfway to Sanity,” their 10th studio album, “Go Lil’ Camaro” features the vocal talents of another rock legend: Debbie Harry of Blondie.

7) “Crocodile Rock” by Elton John

One of the most recognizable hits by the legendary singer Elton John, “Crocodile Rock” is an homage to both the 1950s and car culture, with John singing about the joys of having “an old gold Chevy and a place of my own.” The song went on to top the U.S. charts for three weeks in February 1973.

6) “Chevy Van” by Sammy Johns

Custom van culture was huge in the early 1970s, with rambling owners kitting out the utilitarian workhorses into mobile crashpads featuring shag carpeting, wild custom paint, and plush upholstery. Sammy Johns’ 1973 hit about a one-night fling in his van cashed in on the van craze in a big way, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and selling over a million copies.

5) “Chattahoochee” by Alan Jackson

Every summer seems to have a theme song, and for country music fans, the song of the summer of 1993 was Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee.” An uptempo song about the joys of going to the river in the summertime, the song – which includes the risque line “We fogged up the windows in my old Chevy / I was willing, but she wasn’t ready” – went on to top the country charts and won both Song of the Year and Single of the Year at that year’s Country Music Awards.

4) “Night Moves” by Bob Seger

For our money, nobody captures longing for the past like the great American rocker Bob Seger. The crown jewel of Seger’s catalog of hits might be his classic 1976 song “Night Moves,” in which Seger discusses the innocence of growing up in the early 1960s when all he needed was his “’60 Chevy,” a few bucks for the movies, and a Saturday night date.

3) “409” by The Beach Boys

Though the true origins of the great American muscle car are always going to be debated, one car that has a great claim to being “The Original” of the breed is the fearsome Chevrolet Impala SS 409. Introduced in 1960 and built through 1964, the rare 409 Impala featured the 409 cubic-inch, 425 horsepower W-head big block, making them fearsome warriors on the street and strip – a reputation immortalized in The Beach Boys’ 1962 hot rod hit, “409.”

2) “Little Red Corvette” by Prince

Though he was taken from us much too soon in April 2016 at only 57 years of age, singer and songwriter Prince left behind some of the most stirring music ever created. One of those songs was “Little Red Corvette,” a single from his classic 1983 album “1999.” Like a lot of Prince songs, “Little Red Corvette” is packed with suggestive double entendres, but it is also a celebration of the speed and beauty of the Chevy Corvettes Prince no doubt saw on the streets of Minneapolis as a boy.

1) “American Pie” by Don McLean

Another song that goes heavy on nostalgia for a simpler time in America, 1971’s “American Pie” by Don McLean was a big hit for the soft-rocker when it debuted and has since gone on to be selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry as a song that is culturally significant to who we are as Americans. Though the meaning of the lyrics has been debated since the song debuted, the refrain “drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry” is one of the most recognizable lines in the song, which also makes it one of the most famous in American rock.