Songs that reference car crashes

Cafe Society
1

Well, it is somewhat timely that I just saw the thread for “songs that feature studdering” and now I’m looking for songs that reference car crashes…

I’ve got a few so far (mostly in the emo/punk vain of music)

Brand New- 70 times 7
Spill Canvas- Sunsets and Car Crashes (its just the title)
Brand New- Failure by Design
Pearl Jam- Last Kiss

there a few more I can’t find in my music library… does anybody else have any ideas?

2

Jan & Dean–Dead Man’s Curve

3

Meatloaf - Bat Out of Hell (motorcycle crash)

4

Ringo’s song “Don’t Pass Me By” (on the Beatles’ White Album) contains the line “You were in a car crash,” which IIRC was one of the “clues” that Paul was dead.

5

Shangri-Las–Leader of the Pack

6

Detroit Rock City

Ray Peterson, Tell Laura I Love Her

7

Elton John’s “Goodbye English Rose”

8

Teen Angel - Mark Dinning (The gist of this song was that the heroes’ car stalled on a railroad track with a train coming. They escaped in plenty of time, but the girlfriend runs back to retrieve a class ring, with hilarious results.)

9

“Tonight is the Nght I Fell Asleep at the Wheel” - Barenaked Ladies
This is a first-person account of a crash by the driver. Fantastic lyrics.

and
“The End of the Tour” - They Might Be Giants

This bit seems to be first-person from the car’s point of view:

10

Robert Mitchum’s Ballad of Thunder Road:

11

Snow Patrol - Headlights On Dark Roads

12

New Girl In Town - from the musical “Hairspray” (the new girl in town gets run over by a car.)

13

from the land of country:

“Riding with Private Malone” - David Ball
“455 Rocket” - Kathy Mattea
“Three Wooden Crosses” - Randy Travis
and the asinine “Jesus Take the Wheel” - Carrie Underwood

hell, there’s an Wikipedia entry on car crash songs.

14

“Crawlin’ from the Wreckage” - Graham Parker
“Transfusion” - Nervous Norvus
“Teen Angel” - Mark Dinning

15

Damn you, Lute, I was going to mention Transfusion.

Oh well, I can at least post a link that describes it.

16

But note that this was a late nineties cover of a song from the early sixties (first made prominent by J. Frank Wilson & the Cavaliers).

17

The Smiths-There is a Light that Never Goes Out

  • And if a double-decker bus
    Crashes into us
    To die by your side
    Is such a heavenly way to die
    And if a ten-ton truck
    Kills the both of us
    To die by your side
    Well, the pleasure - the privilege is mine*

She’s Spanish and I’m American-Car Crash (This is a great EP)

  • I don’t wanna die in a car crash
    I’m in the back of a taxi cab, and we’re moving so fast
    I’ve got so much left to give, so much left to live for
    to think that it’s finally over, though
    don’t wanna die in a car crash ♬ *
18

An obscure one from the tail end of the girl group era- “Condition Red” by The Goodees.

19

Understanding A Car Crash by the band Thursday

20

Ever notice that the sound effects used in “Dead Man’s Curve” are the same as in “Transfusion”?