"Cadillac Ranch" is a song written by

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 ...

that was first released on Springsteen's 1980 album '' The River''. In 1981 it was released as a single in Europe, backed by "

Be True "Be True" is a song by Bruce Springsteen. It was recorded on July 18, 1979 at The Power Station in New York in one of the early recording sessions for Bruce Springsteen's album '' The River''. It was not released on the album, but in 1981 it was ...

" in France and by " Wreck on the Highway" in the UK. Although it was not released as a single in the US, it did reach #48 on the

Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart. A favorite in concert, a live version was included on '' Live/1975–85''. A version was also included on the documentary film '' Blood Brothers.

Music and lyrics

"Cadillac Ranch" is an exuberant, playful rocker with rockabilly influences. According to music critic

Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born March 1, 1950) is an American music critic, and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of ''Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone (magazine), ...

, it "made dinosaurs dance." It is highlighted by

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for The E Street Band. Clemons released several s ...

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

solo. Author June Skinner Sawyers called the song "pure rowdy fun" and listed it as one of Springsteen's ten funniest songs. John Cruz of Sputnik Music called the song "just plain fun," noting its infectious beat. However, the theme of the song is "the transitoriness of all existence" and the inevitability of death. Marsh called the song "one of the smartest songs ever about the inevitability of death". Marsh further noted that although the protagonist of "Cadillac Ranch" seems similar to the protagonists of earlier Springsteen records, in this song he appears naive and vulnerable rather than bold and innocent. The song's title comes from

Cadillac Ranch ''Cadillac Ranch'' is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas, US. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm. The installation consists of ten Cadillac ...

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

. Cadillac Ranch is a sculpture showing ten

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

automobiles with their hoods buried in the ground. Springsteen used Cadillac Ranch as a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...

for his theme; that these once elite cars are now expendable. Among the real life people namechecked in the song are

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...

Junior Johnson Robert Glenn Johnson Jr. (June 28, 1931 – December 20, 2019), better known as Junior Johnson, was an American NASCAR driver of the 1950s and 1960s. He won 50 NASCAR races in his career before retiring in 1966. In the 1970s and 1980s, he became ...

, and

James Dean James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931September 30, 1955) was an American actor. He is remembered as a cultural icon of teenage disillusionment and social estrangement, as expressed in the title of his most celebrated film, ''Rebel Without a Cause' ...

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: *

– vocals, guitars *

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synthe ...

– piano, backing vocals *

– saxophone, backing vocals *

Danny Federici Daniel Paul Federici (January 23, 1950 – April 17, 2008) was an American musician, best known as the organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player and a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. In 2014, Federici was posthumously induct ...

– organ *

Garry Tallent Garry Wayne Tallent (born October 27, 1949), sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being bass player and founding member of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band si ...

– bass *

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin ...

– guitars, vocal harmonies, backing vocals *

Max Weinberg Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' a ...

– drums

Covers

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician. Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Tho ...

covered "Cadillac Ranch" during his 1982 tour and the song was featured in an MTV broadcast from the Capitol Theatre in

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

on October 1, 1982.

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

originally recorded the song for their 1983 album '' Back to Back'', but the song was cut and was later released on the 1999 album ''Back to the Beginning''. The

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is an American country rock band formed in 1966. The group has existed in various forms since its founding in Long Beach, California. Between 1976 and 1981, the band performed and recorded as the Dirt Band. Constant ...

covered the song on their 1984 album ''

Plain Dirt Fashion ''Plain Dirt Fashion'' is the fifteenth studio album by American country folk group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, released in 1984 by the record label Warner Bros. Records. This album went to #8 on the US Country charts. The three singles from this alb ...

'' as well as the 1991 live album '' Live Two Five''. In 1986, Savoy Records (in the UK), released a 12" single, by

Lord Horror David Britton (18 February 1945 – 29 December 2020) was a British author, artist, and publisher. In the 1970s he founded ''Weird Fantasy'' and ''Crucified Toad'', a series of small press magazines of the speculative fiction and horror genres. ...

, which was a cover of '' Blue Monday'' (by New Order), but with its lyrics replaced by the lyrics to "Cadillac Ranch" instead. The single didn't chart though, mainly because it wasn't stocked in many record shops, due to its controversial artwork. The track is also available on a Savoy Records compilation album, ''Savoy Wars'', which was released in 1994.

Rick Trevino Ricardo Treviño Jr. (born May 16, 1971) is an American country music artist. Signed to Columbia Nashville in 1993, Trevino began his career that year with the release of his debut single "Just Enough Rope", the first mainstream country music sin ...

's version appears on the compilation albums ''NASCAR: Runnin' Wide Open'' (1995) and ''Highway Fever: All Time Greatest Country Road Songs'' (2006).

Daniel Johnston Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded a ...

's song "Funeral Home" takes its melody from "Cadillac Ranch". In 2023,

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Brett Kissel Brett Kissel (born May 27, 1990) is a Canadian country singer. He has had four number-one hits on the Canadian country chart with " Airwaves", " Drink About Me", "A Few Good Stories", and " Make a Life, Not a Living". Early life Kissel was born ...

released a cover of "Cadillac Ranch" on his album '' The Compass Project - South Album''.

References

External links

Lyrics & Audio clips from Brucespringsteen.net
{{Authority control 1980 songs 1981 singles Bruce Springsteen songs Songs written by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Jon Landau Rockabilly songs Nitty Gritty Dirt Band songs Brett Kissel songs Columbia Records singles Songs about cars Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Steven Van Zandt Cadillac