Album: II (1996)
Charted: 29 68
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The Mach 5 is Speed Racer's car, and it's very fast. In this song, Presidents Of The United States Of America frontman Chris Ballew recalls his childhood when he used his imagination to drive his own Mach 5.

    "That was about the joy of when I was a little kid," he told Songfacts. "I loved building model airplanes or buying Matchbox cars and playing with them for a while, but then devising maniacal ways to destroy them. That was part of the fun. You know, loading up a B-52 model bomber with gunpowder from a brick of fireworks and lighting it on fire. So it was just about the joy of smashing."
  • The Speed Racer franchise started in Japan and became an anime that was dubbed into English and shown in America. In 2008 it was made into a live-action film directed by The Wachowskis, known for their work on The Matrix movies.
  • "Mach 5" was the lead single from the second Presidents Of The United States Of America album, appropriately titled II. They were one of the many Seattle bands to land a record deal in the '90s, even though they didn't do grunge. Their debut album was a smashing success, selling over 3 million copies thanks to the hits "Peaches" and "Lump." II didn't do nearly as well, and they split in 1998, re-forming from time to time to record and perform.
  • Musically, this song is influenced by Kiss, specifically the song "Shout It Out Loud." It was written by band members Chris Ballew and Dave Dederer, who each played guitar, but Ballew's had two strings and Dederer's had three.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Christmas Songs

Christmas SongsFact or Fiction

Rudolf, Bob Dylan and the Singing Dogs all show up in this Fact or Fiction for seasonal favorites.

Daryl Hall

Daryl HallSongwriter Interviews

Daryl Hall's TV show is a hit, and he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - only one of these developments excites him.

The Real Nick Drake

The Real Nick DrakeSong Writing

The head of Drake's estate shares his insights on the late folk singer's life and music.

Wolfgang Van Halen

Wolfgang Van HalenSongwriter Interviews

Wolfgang Van Halen breaks down the songs on his debut album, Mammoth WVH, and names the definitive Van Halen songs from the Sammy and Dave eras.

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")

Phil Hurtt ("I'll Be Around")Songwriter Interviews

Phil was a songwriter, producer and voice behind many Philadelphia soul classics. When disco hit, he got an interesting project: The Village People.

David Sancious

David SanciousSongwriter Interviews

Keyboard great David Sancious talks about his work with Sting, Seal, Springsteen, Clapton and Aretha, and explains what quantum physics has to do with making music.