Riding In My Car

Album: This Land Is Your Land: Asch Recordings Volume 1 (1954)
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Songfacts®:

  • Also known as "Car Song," this is a children's song about going for a ride in a car. In Guthrie's day, cars made lots of noises, which he imitates in the song.
  • Bruce Springsteen performed this at the 2000 concert 'Til We Outnumber 'Em, which featured Indigo Girls, Ani DiFranco, Billy Bragg and several other musicians playing Guthrie's songs. Cars are a big part of Springsteen's songwriting, but while he often uses the car as a symbol of escape and enlightenment, here he gets the chance to make all the engine and door noises while singing about taking a fun ride. (Thanks to Anna Canoni at the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives. Read more in her full interview. Learn much more at the official Woody Guthrie website.)

Comments: 1

  • Sara from Silver Spring, MdDonovan covered this on his debut album What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid aka Catch the Wind.
    Like Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie was his major influence. He used to wear a Breton's fisherman's cap and even adapted Woody's "This machine kills facisits" on his first guitar but dropped the last part.
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