# The Cars - “Drive” **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 5, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314 "2019-10-05T15:40:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/1 "2019-10-05T15:40:50Z")
Something I’ve always wondered about - the singer kind of mutters something off-mic between the lines “You can’t go on thinking nothing’s wrong” and “Who’s gonna drive you home tonight?” It kind of sounds like “alright” but not exactly. Can anyone make out what he’s saying? ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/2 "2019-10-05T18:08:15Z")
I’ll go back and listen to it. In the meantime, I’ll mention that Greg Hawkes has commented several times that Mutt Lange, the producer, drove the band crazy trying to get the background vocals EXACTLY right. It apparently took several days to record them. Mr. Lange would probably be upset to hear that this section isn’t up to snuff. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/3 "2019-10-05T20:46:14Z")
“But now, who’s doing to drive you home tonight?” IMHO. There are 3 places in the song where the “who’s going to …” line is used. Here’s the [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuZA6qiJVfU). First [occurrence](https://youtu.be/xuZA6qiJVfU?t=58). Orr is off camera. No chance of reading lips. Third [occurrence](https://youtu.be/xuZA6qiJVfU?t=210). No extra words. Second [occurrence](https://youtu.be/xuZA6qiJVfU?t=126) is the best one. Orr’s on camera. Read lips at your own risk. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/4 "2019-10-05T20:47:49Z")
I unsuccessfully googled the lyrics recently for the same reason. It might be _or right_ but it really is a mumble. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/5 "2019-10-05T20:58:25Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > “But now, who’s doing to drive you home tonight?” IMHO. > Second [occurrence](https://youtu.be/xuZA6qiJVfU?t=126) is the best one. Orr’s on camera. Read lips at your own risk. I watched and listened expecting to hear “but now” but I don’t really hear that. Maybe, but it sure is an odd pronounciation - and why wouldn’t it be included in the official lyrics? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/6 "2019-10-05T22:52:31Z")
A couple of weeks ago or so I was curious too, so I looked up the lyrics and he’s saying, “but bye”. That seems to be right. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/7 "2019-10-06T00:07:54Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > A couple of weeks ago or so I was curious too, so I looked up the lyrics and he’s saying, “but bye”. That seems to be right. That doesn’t make much sense because the whole song is about being there. I think the ‘but bye’ comes from a fan video on youtube. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/8 "2019-10-06T10:56:17Z")
I’ve always thought it was “Let’s drive.” But that’s a pure guess from probably a couple hundred listens since that single dropped. And we didn’t have MTV at the time so I’m really not too familiar with the video. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/9 "2019-10-06T13:31:29Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > A couple of weeks ago or so I was curious too, so I looked up the lyrics and he’s saying, “but bye”. That seems to be right. There is definitely no “b” at the start of the second word/syllable. The "b"s are the problem. If you don’t think there’s a “b” at the start of the first word/syllable then “And” might fit. So you get: “And now, who’s going to drive you home tonight.” But then the first “n” is a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/10 "2019-10-06T16:07:23Z")
After repeated listening, I can confirm he’s says “port nuh.” I have no idea what it means. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/11 "2019-10-06T17:39:51Z")
[Listening to it live](https://youtu.be/_k1rxUnh99A?t=48) is no help at all, either. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2019, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/12 "2019-10-06T21:46:29Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > [Listening to it live](https://youtu.be/_k1rxUnh99A?t=48) is no help at all, either. Interesting that it’s the same pattern as in the original. Used the first two times but not the third. Sort of an “Uh, yeah” type thing. But keep in mind that other performances often do not adhere to the original. E.g., here’s Ocasek [singing it in](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH7VYwECpKM) 2012. Departs from the original words here and there. (Yeah, the video starts off sideways, but it gets better. If you’re not prone to motion sickness.) ---
**Author:** ![SkyRangerRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SkyRangerRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkyRangerRich)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/13 "2019-10-07T08:17:13Z")
Pork Pie ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/14 "2019-10-07T14:04:53Z")
I always thought he said, “with life”. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cars-drive/841314/15 "2019-10-07T14:25:02Z")
> [@SkyRangerRich](#): > > Pork Pie That’s what I hear. He’s saying she should eat something. She’s just skin and bones.