"Riding in My Car" (also called "Car Car" or "The Car Song") is a children's song by

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

. Guthrie wrote "Riding in My Car" during a productive period in the 1940s when he was living at

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

in New York. "Riding in My Car" was recorded as part of The Asch Recordings in the mid 1940s. It was released on

78 RPM A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove ...

record, then collected on 12" vinyl LP on Guthrie's 1951 album '' Songs to Grow on, Volume One: Nursery Days''. It has since been included on several Guthrie compilation albums. The song's playful lyrics include

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

, with the "motorboat" sound (an extended

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with w ...

) imitating a car's engine. Possibly the best known of Guthrie's many children's songs, it remains a family and sing-along standard into the 21st century. "Riding in My Car" is included in the popular sing-along songbook ''

Rise Up Singing ''Rise Up Singing'' is a popular folk music fake book containing chords, lyrics, and sources. There are 1200 songs in the 2004 edition. The book does not include notation of the songs' melodies (with the exception of the two sections on rounds ...

''. "Riding in My Car" has been covered by artists including

Peter, Paul and Mary Peter, Paul and Mary was an American folk group formed in New York City in 1961 during the American folk music revival phenomenon. The trio consisted of tenor Peter Yarrow, baritone Paul Stookey, and contralto Mary Travers. The group's repertoir ...

on '' In Concert'' (1964) and

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

on ''

What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid ''What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid'' is the debut album from Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan. It was released in the UK four days after his nineteenth birthday on 14 May 1965, through Pye Records (catalog number NPL 18117). Terry Kennedy, P ...

'' (1965; US title ''Catch The Wind'') (Donovan also performed the song at an October 2012 concert at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

, released on ''Woody At 100! Live at the Kennedy Center''). Other recordings include performances by

Greg & Steve Greg & Steve are a musical duo based in Los Angeles, California. The duo, composed of Greg Scelsa (born October 29, 1947) and Steve Millang (born May 10, 1947), has been performing and recording children's music since the late 1970s. Scelsa and Mil ...

Ramblin' Jack Elliot Ramblin' Jack Elliott (born Elliot Charles Adnopoz; August 1, 1931) is an American folk music, folk singer and songwriter. Life and career Elliott was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, United States, the son of Florence (R ...

(on ''

Songs to Grow On by Woody Guthrie, Sung by Jack Elliott ''Songs to Grow On by Woody Guthrie, Sung by Jack Elliott'' is an album by United States, American folk musician Ramblin' Jack Elliott, released in 1961. It consists of songs for children written or performed by Woody Guthrie. Track listing Sid ...

''),

Odetta Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...

Peter Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

Arlo Guthrie Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947) is an American folk singer-songwriter. He is known for singing songs of protest against social injustice, and storytelling while performing songs, following the tradition of his father, Woody Guthrie. Gut ...

Kidsongs ''Kidsongs'' is an American children's media franchise that includes Kidsongs Music Video Stories on DVD and video, The Kidsongs TV Show, CDs of favorite children's songs, song books, sheet music, toys and an ecommerce website. It was created by ...

, and

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

performed the song at a Woody Guthrie tribute concert at

Severance Hall Severance Hall is a concert hall located in the University Circle section of Cleveland, Ohio. Opened in 1931, Severance Hall was named after patrons John L. Severance and his wife, Elisabeth Huntingdon DeWitt Severance, and serves as the hom ...

in Cleveland on September 29, 1996, released that year on the record ''Til We Outnumber 'Em''.

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

performed it at

The Gaslight Cafe The Gaslight Cafe was a coffeehouse in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York. Also known as The Village Gaslight, it opened in 1958 and became notable as a venue for folk music and other musical acts.Al AronowitzThe Gaslight, ...

in 1961. A 1961 performance by Dylan of the song at a private party was made and later released on a

bootleg record A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...

, ''The Minneapolis Party Tape''. Scott Menchin published a 2012 children's book, ''Riding in My Car'', inspired by the song, and including his illustrations of the lyrics.

References

Songs written by Woody Guthrie Woody Guthrie songs American children's songs Songs about cars {{Woody Guthrie