Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)

Subject: Lyr Req: Song named '68' Chevelle' by R Cook
From: Mithgiladan
Date: 05 Mar 18 - 12:05 AM

Hello,

I have a tape from the 1970 with a song called "68'Chevelle"

I am trying to record the lyrics from a digitized file off the tape, however there are people laughing so hard during certain sections and I can't get the words.

I did a search and a guest here had mentioned the song back in 2008, however I did not see where they or anyone else responded with the lyrics.

What I have, to start with are the lyrics:
I’ll never need no red book now, long as I got my chairman Mao,
       Glued to the dashboard of m ’68 Chevelle.
Stomp on the gas and let’s ??? ????, I got Trotsky on my mirror,
       so I know that things will all be well.
I got a Catsro on the back shelf and his head goes up and down.
    I got ??? stickers on the windows all around.
I’ll never need no red book now, long as I got my chairman Mao,
       Glued to the dashboard of m ’68 Chevelle.


You will not the question marks where I can't work out the lyrics and I am wondering if anyone here can help?

Thank you!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song named '68' Chevelle' by R Cook
From: Mithgiladan
Date: 05 Mar 18 - 08:41 PM

Further information...

The name of the tape this was on is "The Best of FilkCon West"

This song was track 15.

Thanks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song named '68' Chevelle' by R Cook
From: GUEST,Dalillama
Date: 06 Mar 18 - 05:53 AM

I can tell you you're going to have a devil of a time finding it; Off Centaur tapes are extremely hard to come by, and most of them have not been digitized, nor have the liner notes. That particular tape was recorded live in 1981, and AFAICT that song has never been recorded again.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song named '68' Chevelle' by R Cook
From: Mithgiladan
Date: 06 Mar 18 - 07:54 AM

Hi, and thanks

I have a physical copy of the tape and have digitized it.

What I'm hoping for are the lyrics to this song, as there is so much laughter, I can't get it just by playing the song

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song named '68' Chevelle' by R Cook
From: GUEST,Dalillama
Date: 06 Mar 18 - 09:36 PM

I've scoured every filk site I know of or can locate for the lyrics without any luck. It's said to be a parody of 'Plastic Jesus', based on a particular car Robert Cook often saw around Berkely in the 70s.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song named '68' Chevelle' by R Cook
From: Mithgiladan
Date: 07 Mar 18 - 07:41 PM

well, thank you for the attempt

Hopefully, someone else might have a lead

Subject: Lyr Add: '68 CHEVELLE (Jimmy Fortune)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 19 Mar 18 - 05:30 PM

Same title, different song. This one is straight-up country; I don't think you could call it "filk" or parody.


'68 CHEVELLE
As recorded by Jimmy Fortune on "Lessons" (2012)

Couple rolls of quarters for Cokes an' gasoline,
To sit as close as we could sit in bucket seats.
From that ol' mirror hung your high-school ring.
Mine was on your finger; man, that was everything.

I pushed the clutch and you would shift the gears,
And for a sweet kiss or two, I'd let you steer.
When love was new, wasn't it a beautiful ride,
Runnin' down Route 29 on a clear warm summer night?

When you're young, you think you're older than your age,
And you think that simple life will never change
Till you grow up and you look back and want to feel the way you felt
On a country road in a '68 Chevelle.

Man, I can see that ol' spot where we used to park,
Lean back on the hood and stare up at the stars
With the windows down and the radio cranked up.
Ain't nothin' quite that first time in love.

God, I wish that I still had that ol' car now.
We could fire it up and roll on out of town
And just relive all them good ol' days
When you thought I hung the moon; how could I let you slip away?

Today I saw an old Chevelle and it crossed my mind:
Ain't it funny how an old car can take you back in time?
And make you realize--

When you're young you think you're older than your age,
And you think that simple life will never change
Till you grow up and you look back and want to feel the way you felt
On a country road in a '68 Chevelle,
In a '68 Chevelle.

Till you grow up and you look back and want to feel the way you felt
On a country road in a '68 Chevelle,
In a '68 Chevelle.

Subject: Lyr Add: BRAND NEW CHEVELLE (Paul Nipper)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 19 Mar 18 - 06:05 PM

Another country song:


BRAND NEW CHEVELLE
As recorded by Paul Nipper on "Rumble Strips" (2016)

Standin' there in the sideways rain, I read the letter you wrote.
Said Vietnam had done us in; I understand you...(?)
When I got off the back plane, I didn't know which way was up.
I knew which way the dealership was and I fired it up.

CHORUS: I got a brand-new Chevelle; I went on down the line.
Got a brand-new Chevelle, boys, I left her mem'ry behind.
Got a brand-new Chevelle, yeah, and headed out to the track.
Got a brand-new Chevelle, and I ain't lookin' back.

Two white stripes outlined in the prettiest shade o' blue,
And an engine just strong enough to outrun a woman like you,
And the leather bucket seats for my new girl to sit between.
She's long, Bubba; she's fast, and, boy, she's mean. CHORUS

Lakeside Drive it don't look the same without you.
Neither does my drivin' arm with this simple fine tattoo.
Uncle Sam didn't pay me much to walk through them rice fields,
And now that I'm back, he don't care about how I feel.
To tell the truth, I don't think about it much anymore.
Ain't had much time lookin' back when I got my foot to the floor.

CHORUS: In a brand-new....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)
From: Mithgiladan
Date: 22 Mar 18 - 06:00 PM

Thanks for the adds!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)
From: GUEST,Dalillama
Date: 10 Apr 18 - 06:38 AM

You might ask FilkZombie or WeyrdMusicMan on youtube, they both seem to have a bunch of the old Off Centaur stuff, they might know.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 10 Apr 18 - 02:37 PM

Isn't it in one of the Westerfilk books? I want to say Westerfilk 2.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)
From: GUEST,Dalillama
Date: 11 Apr 18 - 12:00 AM

Not according to these contents lists:
https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Westerfilk_Collection

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)
From: GUEST,zale
Date: 28 Oct 22 - 09:03 PM

Grew up listening to this.

It’s “Frederich Engels stickers”

Another part is “Ho Chi Min on my stickshift graces all my comrades smiling faces as we journey on wards in our cell. Oh we’ve got every comfort possible that communists abide, in our little traveling Moscow, and we call her Pravda’s pride.”

Now this is just from memory, so it’s possible I’ve jumbled parts up.
I’ll try singing it to myself for a few days and see if any more turns up in my memory.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)
From: cnd
Date: 31 Oct 22 - 08:30 AM

Joe, or one of the other moderators, do we have a contact for Mithgiladan? I note he hasn't been active here since his first posting in 2018. If we do, I would be more than willing to help transcribe the lyrics.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)
From: cnd
Date: 31 Oct 22 - 02:13 PM

Actually, after some searching, this entire cassette is available on archive.org -- see link for the recording. I'll try and transcribe it later

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)
From: cnd
Date: 31 Oct 22 - 09:28 PM

My transcription from the link above, with thanks to zale and Mithgiladan. The tune is similar for most of the song to Nobody's Business. There may be a better fit out there, but I'm no good with tunes. The bolded section is where I (and the original poster) have trouble with the lyrics. I still have some doubts about my transcription, but believe it's closer than the original guess.


[SPOKEN]: The problem is, we have songs for before the revolution, after the revolution, and during the revolution, but we don't got no songs for on your way to the revolution. Now I'm here to fill that gap.

[vocalizing to tune]

I'll never need no Red Book now
Long as I got my Chairman Mao
Glued to the dashboard of my '68 Chevelle
Tap the cap and let's get near
I got Trotsky on my mirror
So I know that things will all be well

I got a Castro on the back shelf and his head goes up and down
I got Friedrich Engels stickers on the windows all around
I'll never need no Red Book now
Long as I got my chairman Mao
Glued to the dashboard of my car

Down the road I go in style
Laughing, cheering, all the while
To those tiring speeches on my PRC cassette
I don't care if I'm dumb and lazy
Lenin may be downright crazy
But I won't desert him on a bet

I got bourgeoisie skin upholstery on the seats, both back and forth
With a hammer-sickle pattern on the carpet on the floor
I'll never need no Red Book now
Long as I got my Chairman Mao
Glued to the dashboard of my car

I have got me a revolution
Out on the wheels, an execution
As my Stalin radio, so round and round they go
All my comrades join with gusto
Sing along to the manifesto
Humming to the parts we do not know

Well I had to nearly sell it after days of heated talk
If they don't do what I tell 'em then they all get out and walk
I'll never need no Red Book now
Long as I got my chairman Mao
Glued to the dashboard of my car

Che Guevara smiles his blessing
Down from starlit and Indo-aggressing
Hanging 'round the inside of my '68 Chevelle
Ho Chi Min on my stick shift graces
All my comrades smiling faces
As we journey on wards in our cell

Oh we've got every comfort possible that communists abide
In our little traveling Moscow, and we call her Pravda's pride

The Capitalists are green with envy
They're in our last year's Caddys when we
Peel out and leave 'em a-coughing in our swell
I don't gotta be decent now
Long as I got my Chairman Mao
Glued to the dashboard of my '68 Chevelle

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)
From: cnd
Date: 31 Oct 22 - 09:31 PM

Meant to say: I still have some doubts about that section of my transcription. The rest I am mostly if not completely confident in, though a second pair of ears never does any harm.

Also, a correction: "both back and forth" should probably be "both back and for'd" (as in, forward)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)
From: cnd
Date: 13 Mar 23 - 02:04 PM

I missed it somehow when I first posted the lyrics, but the tune is obviously, as Dalillama said above, that of Plastic Jesus (a very pretty version by the Plastic Honeys brought this to my attention).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: '68 Chevelle (R Cook)
From: GUEST,redblue
Date: 30 Oct 24 - 01:58 PM

My recollection is:

I've got a permanent revolution
Out on the wheels, in execution
As my Stalin radials, around and round they go
All my comrades join with gusto
Sing along to the manifesto
Humming to the parts we do not know

Obvious reference is to "steel belted radial tires", which were heavily advertised at the time of the song, and to Trotsky's idea of a "permanent revolution".