Gary Numan — Cars
Album: The Pleasure PrincipleAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 2064
Length: 3:45
Plays (last 30 days): 2
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Here in my car
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
Here in my car
I can only receive
I can listen to you
It keeps me stable for days
In cars
Here in my car
Where the image breaks down
Will you visit me please
If I open my door
In cars
Here in my car
I know I've started to think
About leaving tonight
Although nothing seems right
In cars
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
Here in my car
I can only receive
I can listen to you
It keeps me stable for days
In cars
Here in my car
Where the image breaks down
Will you visit me please
If I open my door
In cars
Here in my car
I know I've started to think
About leaving tonight
Although nothing seems right
In cars
Comments (232)add comment
So awesome just randomly hearing this at 2 am. It's one of the first songs I heard when I started my summer vacation in June 1980. So memorable and it made me seek out the album. I mean listen to that long outro, there was nothing like it in 1980. It was my first album purchase.
Wish RP would go into more of his catalog and hit some of the songs from this album or Telekon. It's good stuff, come on Bill we can do this.,
Instant 1
joejennings wrote:
And, he is also an accomplished commercial airline pilot /instructor!
WW2 bombers as well. iirc he flew some with the Confederate Airforce (B17 and B25?)
And, he is also an accomplished commercial airline pilot /instructor!
WW2 bombers as well. iirc he flew some with the Confederate Airforce (B17 and B25?)
tm wrote:
And, he is also an accomplished commercial airline pilot /instructor!
Gary writes a fantastic bio!!! really interesting, self deprecating, and funny. Great music too
And, he is also an accomplished commercial airline pilot /instructor!
Gary writes a fantastic bio!!! really interesting, self deprecating, and funny. Great music too
Are Cars Electric?
...er well, they are now
(some of them anyway - it won't last though, synthetic fuel is the way to go...)
...er well, they are now
(some of them anyway - it won't last though, synthetic fuel is the way to go...)
1979!
Gosh!
Still utterly memorable.
wait till they're all electric and you can do F-all about where you want to go
this will be playing
this will be playing
As a little kid, this song blew my mind, and I always associated it with Dream Weaver because both had such magical sounds from those new-fangled synthesizer thingies. Both songs still hold a special place in my heart. I still stop and listen whenever I hear either of them.
GREAT TUNE!! When this came out, it was severely overplayed on the radio, but still excellent! It is even better NOW in FLAC w/ great phones, amp & DAC! Thanx RP!
Gary Numan is an incredibly versatile artist. It's a shame he's only known for Cars.
I've always been a fan of his Telekon era albums around 1980, which were early new wave / electronica, but he's done some amazing stuff since then. Check out the song "Dominion Day" from 1997.
I used to drive an Austin Mini, and when this came on would sing:
Here in my car, I feel safest of all, But I've made a mistake, because my car is so small.
Here in my car, I feel safest of all, But I've made a mistake, because my car is so small.
tonyinnj wrote:
Yeah, well, Ian Anderson is a total dick on more than one level.
Yeah, well, Ian Anderson is a total dick on more than one level.
maxvonevil wrote:
Mascara and Eyeshadow, apparently the fashion statement of choice for the male proto-yuppie and B-movie corporate henchmen of the late 70's... 😁
Mascara and Eyeshadow, apparently the fashion statement of choice for the male proto-yuppie and B-movie corporate henchmen of the late 70's... 😁
IIRC, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson had some really disparaging remarks
about Gary Numan's appearance...
Tony in NJ
W.A.S.T.E.
I recall driving down south Texas many years ago. The station playing this song was fading away and coming in was another rock station that was playing Eric Clapton's "Cocaine", the primary riff of which is kind of a slower version of the Cars riff. The stations kept fading between one song and another. An interesting enough experience that I recall it three decades later.
Mascara and Eyeshadow, apparently the fashion statement of choice for the male proto-yuppie and B-movie corporate henchmen of the late 70's... 😁
ONE OF THE WEIRDEST, and most gratifyingly nerdy songs ever to crest the airwaves... When it came out, the DJ warned us; said Get ready, said it was "Like The Cars got together in the studio with Alice Cooper..." We were like, "Chuh! Dude! -- Let's get STONED, for sure!" We partied heartily as we listened to this and other radio-rockers and drove our bad-assed Cutlasses, Camaros, and Monte Carlos all night...
My baby boomer dad said "wtf is this" when it came on FM - I give it a solid 7
thewiseking wrote:
Oh, horseshit. He just reminds me of Kraftwerk and others before his big and only hit; there would be no Gary Numan without the solid foundation for "android" rock laid first by "Autobahn", "Trans-Europe Express", and "The Man-Machine", all of which came out before "The Pleasure Principle". There was also Tangerine Dream and Yellow Magic Orchestra, and for gosh sake Eno, by the time Gary Numan hit the scene. Gary's tune was cute pop but the android thing was a visual prop that he copied from others, I'm afraid. And his other good tune, "Change Your Mind" was much better. But neither were 'innovative'; just pretty good, but derivative, pop.
Perhaps the most brilliant of all the electronic innovators. Nobody had Numan's totally android persona and sound and those catchy riffs. M.E., Are Friends Electric are next level. Of course those who know and were obsessed with his early stuff immediately picked up the JG Ballard references to a dystopian future.
Oh, horseshit. He just reminds me of Kraftwerk and others before his big and only hit; there would be no Gary Numan without the solid foundation for "android" rock laid first by "Autobahn", "Trans-Europe Express", and "The Man-Machine", all of which came out before "The Pleasure Principle". There was also Tangerine Dream and Yellow Magic Orchestra, and for gosh sake Eno, by the time Gary Numan hit the scene. Gary's tune was cute pop but the android thing was a visual prop that he copied from others, I'm afraid. And his other good tune, "Change Your Mind" was much better. But neither were 'innovative'; just pretty good, but derivative, pop.
One of the best episodes of Phineas and Ferb
Didn't like it then,
Don't like it now.
Don't like it now.
Lindo525 wrote:
Oh No... I got my first thumbs down. Clicked it to see if there was some explanation as-to-why. Now I have 2 thumbs down... Oops!
There's always a certain someone who drops a downvote just for the hell of it. I get one with every comment, probably this one too. You know who you are...
Oh No... I got my first thumbs down. Clicked it to see if there was some explanation as-to-why. Now I have 2 thumbs down... Oops!
There's always a certain someone who drops a downvote just for the hell of it. I get one with every comment, probably this one too. You know who you are...
sfyi2001 wrote:
Here here. I was not their, I was hear.
I don't know where YOU were in 1979, but in NYC, you couldn't turn the radio on and not here this!
Here here. I was not their, I was hear.
Whip It down Electric Avenue toward West End Girls cause One Thing Leads to Another and I'm Hungry Like the Wolf
I don't know where YOU were in 1979, but in NYC, you couldn't turn the radio on and not hear this!
thewiseking wrote:
"android persona" - actually, he's got Asperger's, and I believe David Byrne was similar
(I like the music that both made.)
Perhaps the most brilliant of all the electronic innovators. Nobody had Numan's totally android persona and sound and those catchy riffs. M.E., Are Friends Electric are next level. Of course those who know and were obsessed with his early stuff immediately picked up the JG Ballard references to a dystopian future.
"android persona" - actually, he's got Asperger's, and I believe David Byrne was similar
(I like the music that both made.)
Here at my desk
I send endless emails
I attach the checklists
Over and over again
At my desk
(and do it in sync with GN's "Cars")
I send endless emails
I attach the checklists
Over and over again
At my desk
(and do it in sync with GN's "Cars")
The cover/collaboration with NIN is FIRST RATE. Check it out on YouTube.
sfyi2001 wrote:
True that. You couldn't avoid this song in 1979.
This was on the radio more often than traffic and weather in 1979.
true story
true story
True that. You couldn't avoid this song in 1979.
I see your cat and raise you a doggo, well ... kinda
sfyi2001 wrote:
British PAYOLA!
This was on the radio more often than traffic and weather in 1979.
true story
true story
British PAYOLA!
This was on the radio more often than traffic and weather in 1979.
true story
true story
kcar wrote:
That cat is tripping hairballs.
Here in my car
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
(...trippin' on some baaad catnip ...)
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
(...trippin' on some baaad catnip ...)
That cat is tripping hairballs.
I'm really enjoying his latest stuff it's a nice evolution for him
For a short period GN collaborated with Bill Nelson of Be Bop Deluxe, Red Noise etc.
They found it hard to work together and that's probably because Bill is a true musician.
They found it hard to work together and that's probably because Bill is a true musician.
Perhaps the most brilliant of all the electronic innovators. Nobody had Numan's totally android persona and sound and those catchy riffs. M.E., Are Friends Electric are next level. Of course those who know and were obsessed with his early stuff immediately picked up the JG Ballard references to a dystopian future.
FamilyMan wrote:
Good ol' Bayonne Butch...;-)
Back in the day, Vin Scelsa - WNEW in New York - played this song in a set which included Steve Forbert's "The Oil Song" and NRBQ's "Get That Gasoline". I don't exactly remember the contemporaneous events that prompted this set, but I imagine that the price of gasoline was getting way out of hand - piercing the $1.00 per gallon mark.
Good ol' Bayonne Butch...;-)
Japan four!!!!
JAPAN FOUR!!!!!!!
Lindo525 wrote:
That GIF is freakishly mesmerizing...
Oh No... I got my first thumbs down. Clicked it to see if there was some explanation as-to-why. Now I have 2 thumbs down... Oops!
That GIF is freakishly mesmerizing...
Oh No... I got my first thumbs down. Clicked it to see if there was some explanation as-to-why. Now I have 2 thumbs down... Oops!
ok, now RP is just running through all my early adulthood lps.
Best live version, with NIN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qlUFKFHNIU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qlUFKFHNIU
When this came out it was pretty vool but wore thin FAST. Much prefer songs like Are Friends Electric. His collaborations with Robert Palmer (I Dream of Wires and Style Kills) are outstanding.
Upped to 9
This album is great and has aged very well. M.E. is a total jam.
Japan Four! :)
This will erase any earworm you may have had earlier.
kcar wrote:
That GIF is freakishly mesmerizing...
Here in my car
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
(...trippin' on some baaad catnip ...)
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
(...trippin' on some baaad catnip ...)
That GIF is freakishly mesmerizing...
Here in my car
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
(...trippin' on some baaad catnip ...)
I feel safest of all
I can lock all my doors
It's the only way to live
In cars
(...trippin' on some baaad catnip ...)
The Fear Factory cover is really good too.
Our favorite lonely Android. Brilliant and way, way ahead of his time and oh so influential. Sadly, although still in good voice, he has incorporated the worst of Dub Step and Industrial into his act rendering it an earsplitting catastrophe when seen live.
See this guy LIVE if you get a chance.
Please, oh please play some more Gary Numan! He has so many more excellent songs in his catalog than just Cars. He's still making music even now!
Did Cars inspire The Cars?
Proclivities wrote:
Yes, there was great music in the '80s. This is a good tune - even if it seems a little silly by today's standards. By the way, most of the hairstyles and clothes of the 1960s and '70s were pretty silly as well, but no one here seems to want to admit or remember that.
If you remember the 60s it's because you weren't there.
Yes, there was great music in the '80s. This is a good tune - even if it seems a little silly by today's standards. By the way, most of the hairstyles and clothes of the 1960s and '70s were pretty silly as well, but no one here seems to want to admit or remember that.
If you remember the 60s it's because you weren't there.
Holy hot tub time machine batman!
Yes! I wish I could blast this right now but I'm at work. I still have the 45 of this that I bought as a kid and still play it every once in a while. 
Proclivities wrote:
Yes, there was great music in the '80s. This is a good tune - even if it seems a little silly by today's standards. By the way, most of the hairstyles and clothes of the 1960s and '70s were pretty silly as well, but no one here seems to want to admit or remember that.
Kansas ? Why Kansas??
Yes, there was great music in the '80s. This is a good tune - even if it seems a little silly by today's standards. By the way, most of the hairstyles and clothes of the 1960s and '70s were pretty silly as well, but no one here seems to want to admit or remember that.
Kansas ? Why Kansas??
Takes me back to memories of my freshman year in college. We pledges made new lyrics for this song and sung them while working during hell week.
This song came out in 1979!
Back in the day, Vin Scelsa - WNEW in New York - played this song in a set which included Steve Forbert's "The Oil Song" and NRBQ's "Get That Gasoline". I don't exactly remember the contemporaneous events that prompted this set, but I imagine that the price of gasoline was getting way out of hand - piercing the $1.00 per gallon mark.
Patti wrote:
Yes, there was great music in the '80s. This is a good tune - even if it seems a little silly by today's standards. By the way, most of the hairstyles and clothes of the 1960s and '70s were pretty silly as well, but no one here seems to want to admit or remember that.
Ah - the '80's. Bad hair, bad clothes, but great music all around. I fell in love with electronic music then, along with my late husband, and continue to this day as I listen with my daugher.
Yes, there was great music in the '80s. This is a good tune - even if it seems a little silly by today's standards. By the way, most of the hairstyles and clothes of the 1960s and '70s were pretty silly as well, but no one here seems to want to admit or remember that.
Love this song. I still have it on 45 from when it came out.
Easyrider wrote:
The album release date was 1979 .
No expense spared on the album cover,then?
The album release date was 1979 .
Ah - the '80's. Bad hair, bad clothes, but great music all around. I fell in love with electronic music then, along with my late husband, and continue to this day as I listen with my daugher.
No expense spared on the album cover,then?
I remember listening to this as a kid. I always turned it up as loud as I could stand it.
How can you tell Monopoly is an old game?
There's a luxury tax and rich people go to jail. -C&L
There's a luxury tax and rich people go to jail. -C&L
I heard that Trent Reznor cites Gary Numan as an influence, and that Gary Numan cite's Trent as an influence, this is interesting isn't it? umm yes. Am I being a bore? Yes, yes I am. I'll shutup now. Oh look it's the 'pickups. playing Growing Old is Getting Old how appropriate.....
redstorm wrote:
Pure guilty pleasure, sorta like a audio snickers bar
nothing guilty about it, it's just great
Pure guilty pleasure, sorta like a audio snickers bar
nothing guilty about it, it's just great
Love the blue eyeshadow and suit. Perhaps hard for some to understand how this kind of music was revolutionary for its time.
Cheesy?
Seriously - this song will last the ages ... how many snyth bands took birth after hearing Gary and the Tubeway Army. I can clearly remember hearing him for the first time from an LP my brother brought back from the UK to our little town in isolated British Columbia where all we heard on AM radio was "Clap for the Wolfman", "Snow Bird" and "Wreck of the Edmund's Fitzgerald".
This music is timeless to me... will always remember pulling out the album - dropping the Nad needle on it and cranking up the Sansui's way up for this ...
There is a great rendition of this on YouTube with Nine Inch Nails with Gary ... simply amazing live performance actually :)
Seriously - this song will last the ages ... how many snyth bands took birth after hearing Gary and the Tubeway Army. I can clearly remember hearing him for the first time from an LP my brother brought back from the UK to our little town in isolated British Columbia where all we heard on AM radio was "Clap for the Wolfman", "Snow Bird" and "Wreck of the Edmund's Fitzgerald".
This music is timeless to me... will always remember pulling out the album - dropping the Nad needle on it and cranking up the Sansui's way up for this ...
There is a great rendition of this on YouTube with Nine Inch Nails with Gary ... simply amazing live performance actually :)
love it! this is sooooo silly. soooo absolute nonsense and so absolut 100% eighties. purepurepurepure fun, nothing more, nothing less
Yes it's cheesy in the RP context. But as a 9-year-old, nothing could have felt better then lacing up new new roller skates for another Friday night at Interskate 91. No piece of music made me feel more bad-ass in the Spring '82.
Ho Hum
iggam wrote:
That's hilarious!
If this came out today, you'd just call it Interpol
That's hilarious!
For some reason, I always thought this was Devo.
This song probably drives me nuts more than any other song I've heard on here. I suppose it had it's place in it's time and all, but in this case I really could give a f*ck. Just repititive and annoying.
Droidac wrote:
The rating is at 6.9 - that's pretty darn close to "Quite Likeable". I'd say that speaks for itself!
I'd say it speaks to collective nostalgia for the early teen years of the reviewers. Upon reflection, my assessment of this tune only decreases my tolerance for it. Ratings alone do not define quality, probably in everyone's opinions, based on specific examples of dreck and crap that is elevated by pools of others.
The rating is at 6.9 - that's pretty darn close to "Quite Likeable". I'd say that speaks for itself!
I'd say it speaks to collective nostalgia for the early teen years of the reviewers. Upon reflection, my assessment of this tune only decreases my tolerance for it. Ratings alone do not define quality, probably in everyone's opinions, based on specific examples of dreck and crap that is elevated by pools of others.
If this came out today, you'd just call it Interpol
On_The_Beach wrote:
If only cars were the same! See how far we've come........unrateable
Cheesy, disposable 80s Electro-Pop; not great, not terrible; it is what it is.
If only cars were the same! See how far we've come........unrateable
On_The_Beach wrote:
I don't think so, 'cheesy', disposable, are you sure? I don't think you have you really thought about it have you, eh? come on admit it, you know I'm right don't you, deep down, come on, what do you think?, go on, what ga recon eh?
Cheesy, disposable 80s Electro-Pop; not great, not terrible; it is what it is.
I don't think so, 'cheesy', disposable, are you sure? I don't think you have you really thought about it have you, eh? come on admit it, you know I'm right don't you, deep down, come on, what do you think?, go on, what ga recon eh?
'79-'80 what a year. This was a pioneering track and still has a unique quality that is instantly identifiable.
jools wrote:
Stuff I listened to when I was in my teens: great the, Memory Lane now.
Great, classy and classic 80s track.
Stuff I listened to when I was in my teens: great the, Memory Lane now.
Hmmm.........I will allow it.....this time!
this was the one of the first whole albums i bought. I like hearing this song every once in a while—missed it earlier today.
bam23 wrote:
The rating is at 6.9 - that's pretty darn close to "Quite Likeable". I'd say that speaks for itself!
Why? This was no good when released and time has not been kind. Obviously, the majority of commenters do not agree, but there has never been anything about this piece that I liked. Oh well.
The rating is at 6.9 - that's pretty darn close to "Quite Likeable". I'd say that speaks for itself!
Why? This was no good when released and time has not been kind. Obviously, the majority of commenters do not agree, but there has never been anything about this piece that I liked. Oh well.
Cheesy, disposable 80s Electro-Pop; not great, not terrible; it is what it is.
Oh - sorry forgot to say that Are Friends Electric is tons better IMHO.
Great, classy and classic 80s track. What is the problem?!!!!
Proclivities wrote:
That is classic!
Your husband and mother-in-law were performing with Gary Numan on SNL and you had to stay home and watch it on TV?
That is classic! denmom wrote:
I like this song, but I'll forever associate it with watching him perform on SNL with my boyfriend (now husband) and his mother. After watching him, she said "I think we've been had..." I didn't agree, but it was a classic comment.
Your husband and mother-in-law were performing with Gary Numan on SNL and you had to stay home and watch it on TV?Oh those heady late 1970' and early 80's....
redstorm wrote:
Pure guilty pleasure, sorta like a audio snickers bar
Nothing to be guilty about. This is a seminal track, though judging by the comments not everyone "gets it".
Pure guilty pleasure, sorta like a audio snickers bar
Nothing to be guilty about. This is a seminal track, though judging by the comments not everyone "gets it".
you CAN'T be serious...
My memory of this is from going roller skating in the Midwest (US) in the early-ish 80s!
Pure guilty pleasure, sorta like a audio snickers bar
cathenley wrote:
Thirteen years from retirement, which happens in 2 weeks, 2 days. Yeah! (I've heard better on RP)
Where were you when this song came out?
I was living in Seattle, worked for WEA distributing (music distribution). He was considered new wave...
I was living in Seattle, worked for WEA distributing (music distribution). He was considered new wave...
Thirteen years from retirement, which happens in 2 weeks, 2 days. Yeah! (I've heard better on RP)
mgoldman wrote:
We'll be waiting for you. hehe.
In the Likely event that I go to Hell, this will be the music that will playing 24x7.
We'll be waiting for you. hehe.
I like this song, but I'll forever associate it with watching him perform on SNL with my boyfriend (now husband) and his mother. After watching him, she said "I think we've been had..." I didn't agree, but it was a classic comment.
A timeless classic.
This totally makes up for the crappy day I've been having!!! 
I remember a friend of mine playing this tune on a toy keyboard back in the 80's...we were all playing D&D at the time. Hasn't aged well...
boring, boring, boring, boring...
I found a hard rock version of this that played very well.
It was a crunchy. Yeah.
It was a crunchy. Yeah.
ginger wrote:
Cause it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.
I still like it! I don't know why, but I do!
Cause it's got a good beat and you can dance to it.
cathenley wrote:
I was the soundman for a new wave band in Boise. . . we all liked this song, but Gary never caught on with us as an influence. . .
Where were you when this song came out?
I was living in Seattle, worked for WEA distributing (music distribution). He was considered new wave...
I was living in Seattle, worked for WEA distributing (music distribution). He was considered new wave...
I was the soundman for a new wave band in Boise. . . we all liked this song, but Gary never caught on with us as an influence. . .
cathenley wrote:
Just starting puberty and 7th grade.
Ahhhh....junior high dances.
Where were you when this song came out?
I was living in Seattle, worked for WEA distributing (music distribution). He was considered new wave...
I was living in Seattle, worked for WEA distributing (music distribution). He was considered new wave...
Just starting puberty and 7th grade.
Ahhhh....junior high dances. g-rod wrote:
I was just thinkin' that my own self!
It's been done - Fear Factory re-recorded this with Gary Numan some years ago. Quite good actually. Numan's early stuff is ground-breaking material and recognized as such. His later albums are actually very good - and does comprise a lot of guitar
I was just thinkin' that my own self!
It's been done - Fear Factory re-recorded this with Gary Numan some years ago. Quite good actually. Numan's early stuff is ground-breaking material and recognized as such. His later albums are actually very good - and does comprise a lot of guitar
Where were you when this song came out?
I was living in Seattle, worked for WEA distributing (music distribution). He was considered new wave...
I was living in Seattle, worked for WEA distributing (music distribution). He was considered new wave...
mgoldman wrote:
YES hahaha! This song is so annoying. Very few songs do I just loath to hear and this is one.
In the Likely event that I go to Hell, this will be the music that will playing 24x7.
YES hahaha! This song is so annoying. Very few songs do I just loath to hear and this is one.
Always liked this tune. 
One hit wonder eh?
One hit wonder eh?In the Likely event that I go to Hell, this will be the music that will playing 24x7.
WOW! I haven't heard this song in years!
And I wish it will be many more before I hear it again.
And I wish it will be many more before I hear it again.
Cool song. Its Kraftwerk as interpreted through LOW-era David Bowie.
mmmmmmmm....Vice City....