"Swayze Train GTi" (swayzetrain)
08/30/2015 at 20:50 • Filed to: None
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"Swayze Train GTi" (swayzetrain)
08/30/2015 at 20:50 • Filed to: None | 0
| 7 |
There are countless discussions concerning the world’s best driving song, but if we’re to be honest with ourselves, we might as well debate which car itself is the best. Or politics. The point is no one’s mind will be changed, no conclusion will be reached, and your friend will throw your table through the window as he makes his exit, pride holding him back from admitting that it might be possible that sequential fuel injection didn’t come on any small block Chevys in 1994. No, today I shall avoid all of these pitfalls and address a slightly less controversial topic, of which song is most representative of a given car.
Without further ado, I should like to posit that Jessica, by the Allman Brothers, is a car most suited to the Mazda Miata, as I shall explain after, or perhaps as, you listen to the song.
Undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest driving songs on it’s own virtue alone, it’s use as the Top Gear theme intertwined it with automotive enthusiasm forever. Much like the little MX-5, there’s not a sad note in the Allman Brother’s legendary tune Jessica. Every touch of the ivories and chord of the guitars is laced with joy, as is every inch and aspect of the car, aside from a lack of cupholders. And while it’s melodic character is fitting, even more so perhaps is the pace of the song. This is a song of momentum preservation, as is the car. The bridge builds up as the notes climb higher with your tach, and then you’re plunged right back into the familiar main melody as you change up out of a corner.
They’re both products of a different age, and while the Miata might be a cover of a classic British band, it’s well done. It preserves that era where men designed cars to remind them of the beautiful women they loved, which is why the Miata is so cute. Before the era of cars like the SRT Penis Viper, Mitsu Lancer, modern Lamborghinis, and the entire Dodge lineup, designers made cars beautiful, not striking or aggressive. Similarly, Jessica is a song about a beautiful woman, designed to invoke her memory without even a single word, just the emotion of sound. And whereas today’s rock songs are shallow, misrepresentations of love, with an inevitable focus on negativity and sleight, Jessica is a happy, pure memory. The memory of a man who appreciates what he had with his past loves, rather than harbor resentment over what might have been.
In the same way, Mazda’s MX-5 is a physical manifestation of this pleasant nostalgia, all the great things that you remember, with the woes of Lucas electronics gone like the memories of your college girlfriends fleeting moral compass. This positivity radiates, and you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who hates either the song or the car. The sounds are soft and pleasing, the the melodies are happy, and it has a ubiquitous hook known throughout the world. The Miata is the same story, with it’s soft lines and doe-eyed flip up lights, it’s a classically correct sports car, something everyone loves enough to make it the best selling roadster of all time. In fact, the only people who don’t like the car and the song probably do so because they’re not aggressive and angry enough. The kind of person who thinks being unashamedly happy is for pussies probably doesn’t like these two.
Honorable mention for this week: L48 Powered Corvette C3 (1972-1980), represented by the song I’m old (You’re Young) by Rick Jefferys
DrJohannVegas
> Swayze Train GTi
08/30/2015 at 20:57 |
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And the later generations are a bit like the live versions of Jessica: a bit bigger, a bit more ponderous, sometimes a bit misdirected, but still great underneath.
PS: Putting this (or the longer 16+ minute live versions) on a bar jukebox three times in a row will get you kicked out.
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Swayze Train GTi
> DrJohannVegas
08/30/2015 at 21:03 |
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Great analogy, I wish I’d thought of that one.
Reminds me of that one guy who always calls in on request night for the classic rock station and demands the live version of Inna Gadda Da Vida or the entirety of Shine on You Crazy Diamond so he can exercise his influence as long as possible.
Baeromez
> Swayze Train GTi
08/30/2015 at 21:20 |
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Swayze Train GTi
> Baeromez
08/30/2015 at 21:21 |
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Yes. I’m not sure I could quite tell you why in so many words, but you’re spot on.
Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
> Swayze Train GTi
08/30/2015 at 22:33 |
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I will accept CTS-V as well
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Swayze Train GTi
> Carbon Fiber Sasquatch
08/30/2015 at 23:35 |
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Interesting juxtaposition of new and old there, but I definitely see where you’re coming from. The V cars really brought Cadillac back, it’d definitely been a long time since they rocked and rolled.
Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen
> Swayze Train GTi
08/31/2015 at 06:36 |
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The rhythm of the chorus is just like divebombing a tight road in a hot hatch: a series of hard turnin attacks followed by short blasts of rising revs. The slightly apocalyptic, halfway-between-punk-and-rock tone suits the Focus’ “ Asbo, maybe, but not totally insane ” attitude perfectly; if you want the Sex Pistols get an RS. And the South of England’s the spiritual home of the Ford hot hatch: London calls to everyone in a FoST.