Silver Thunderbird

Album: Marc Cohn (1991)
Charted: 63
Play Video
  • Watched it coming up Winslow
    Down South Park Boulevard
    Yeah it was looking good from tail to hood
    Great big fins and painted steel
    Man it looked just like the Batmobile
    With my old man behind the wheel

    Well you could hardly even see him
    In all of that chrome
    The man with the plan and the pocket comb
    But every night it carried him home
    And I could hear him sayin'...

    Don't gimme no Buick
    Son you must take my word
    If there's a God in heaven
    He's got a Silver Thunderbird

    You can keep your Eldorados
    And the foreign car's absurd
    Me I want to go down
    In a Silver Thunderbird

    He got up every morning
    While i was still asleep
    But I remember the sound of him shuffling around
    Then right before the crack of dawn
    I heard him turn the motor on
    But when I got up they were gone

    Down the road in the rain and snow
    The man and his machine would go
    Oh the secrets that old car would know
    Sometimes I hear him sayin'... Writer/s: MARC COHN
    Publisher: Audiam, Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 5

  • Joe Guzzardo from ChicagoSilver Thunderbird is one of my favorite tunes by Marc Cohn. I think it's time for a sequel, Golden Edsel.
  • Andy C from LondonMarc Cohn was born in Cleveland Ohio, South Park Boulevard and Winslow Road are streets in Shaker Heights. Cohn also mentions Shaker Lake in Perfect Love, which is located in Shaker Heights.
  • Cary from Walhalla, ScWhere is Winslow and South park Bl?
  • Volker from HamburgIn a song called "Listening to Levon", Marc Cohn sings "I was sitting with Mary in my dad's blue Valiant". Now wait a minute – was it a blue Valiant or a silver Thunderbird (or both)? Later in the song Cohn sings "I might have even lied about the car" and before playing "Listening to Levon" in a concert in Eddie's Attic, Decatur, GA, 7/9/14 he explained "… in this case I lied and I called it a blue Valiant".
  • Volker from HamburgBesides the cover version by Jo Dee Messina you can find cover versions of "Silver Thunderbird" by Charlie Barker, The Legal Tender Band and Slizzy Bob on Spotify.
    A really remarkable version is the one by The Duke's Men (from their 2011 album "What a Trip", also on Spotify), because it is performed a cappella. The Duke's Men of Yale are an all-male a cappella singing group at Yale University.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Randy Newman

Randy NewmanSongwriting Legends

Newman makes it look easy these days, but in this 1974 interview, he reveals the paranoia and pressures that made him yearn for his old 9-5 job.

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic Furs

Richard Butler of The Psychedelic FursSongwriter Interviews

Psychedelic Furs lead singer Richard Butler talks about their first album since 1991 and explains what's really going on in "Pretty In Pink."

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)Song Writing

How a gym teacher, a janitor, and a junkie became part of some very famous band names.

History Of Rock

History Of RockSong Writing

An interview with Dr. John Covach, music professor at the University of Rochester whose free online courses have become wildly popular.