Steve McQueen

Album: Painkillers (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • This softly shuffling tribute to Steve McQueen finds Brian Fallon imagining himself driving down the boulevard in a Mustang painted in "British racing green."

    I just wanted to be Steve McQueen
    And my horses of English racing green
    You and me in British racing green


    "British racing green" was the color of the '68 Mustang that Steve McQueen drove in his film, Bullitt.
  • Fallon recalled the story of the song to American Songwriter: "My friend Dan Wilson and I sat down and talked, and while we were talking we just started playing and there was the song. Sometimes it's complex and needs to be a big thing, sometimes it's simply just about the feeling of being in love, the dreams we have, and a healthy admiration of mustangs and Steve McQueen."
  • The song was first recorded live by Brian Fallon at the Newport Folk Festival on July 26, 2015.
  • Sheryl Crow and The Automatic have also recorded songs titled after the iconic movie star.

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