Two songs I remember from when I was very young talked about “diamonds in the back”. I know it must have something to do with cars because both songs paired it with a line about sunroofs.
Shame Shame Shame has the lines
*I’ve got my sunroof down,
I’ve got my diamond in the back. . *
and Be Thankful For What You’ve Got has
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin’ the scene with a gangster lean. . .
Oh, and if you know, can you explain to me what a “gangster lean” is? Thanks.
I’ve seen them, but I can’t find a picture. There used to be some sort of custom option to have the back window of your big ol’ pimp Cadillac shaped like a diamond, rather than the usual rectangle. (Imagine the white vinyl roof of the car extending all the way down to the top of the trunk, with a big diamond widow cut out of it.) I guess it combined the prestige of a special order with the extra privacy a gangster needs. I’ll keep looking for a picture. I’m assuming it was a 70’s thing, because that’s when I remember seeing them.
Can’t help you with the lean.
Okay, I stand corrected.
Somebody tell me I’m not imagining the window thing, though. I know I’ve seen them. Possibly they were more for the golf-pants-pulled-up-to-the-armpits set, though, rather than gangsters. (Not that the two are exclusive, in some parts of the country.)
Hang on—doesn’t “Be Thankful” mention the diamond in the back and TV antennas, like they aren’t the same thing?
I think the jury’s out on that one.
The Caddy in Be Thankful boasted gangster whitewalls, sunroof top and both a tv antenna and a diamond in the back.
Remember brothers and sisters, you made not have a car at all but you can still stand tall.