New Chevrolet in Flames

New Chevrolet in Flames
Album	See America Right
Released	2002
Artist	the Mountain Goats
Length	3:49
Previous Track	"See America Right"
Next Track	"Design Your Own Container Garden"

New Chevrolet in Flames is the second track from the See America Right single.

Lyrics

We were drinking Colorado Bulldogs
When inspiration struck 
And we knew it was high time 
For us to change our own luck
We cracked a couple Coca-Colas open 
Mixed them up with vodka and some coffee liqueur 
Poured in some cold milk, raised our glasses high to old friends
My love for you is ninety-eight percent pure

But the two percent that remains
Has fried the circuits in my brain

I got out my smoking jacket
You put on some fishnets and your smart black beret
We cut quite a figure in the mirror 
And then we were on our way
Oh would that you would kiss me 
With the kisses of your mouth
'Cause your mouth is sweeter than wine, and has
A more complicated history than the American South

As the evening 
Took us in 
You could have popped the tension 
With a safety pin

We went down to Pete Brown's Chevrolet
'Cause Pete Brown can satisfy all your new car needs
We were nicely oiled by then 
Our internal transponders picking up satellite feeds 
From well-worn ancient places
Our eager young sales rep handed us the keys
We drove about three quarters of a mile
All that's left for us now are moments like these

We parked behind the high school
Away from the light
And the flames climbed high into the night

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song

• "No, no particular reason. It’s a nice enough song but I don’t feel any particular need to play it live - it’s an honest b-side, the sort of song that doesn’t fit on the album it came from but whose deficiencies make it interesting enough to put out there for people who like curiosities. I don’t hate it or anything, but it’s hard for me to imagine it being particularly good or interesting live - the version on the 'See America Right' single is kind of all I have to say about/through that song. We may have played it at a Wilmington show once, though, I’m not sure...'New Chevrolet' is an ok little song that wasn’t as good as anything else on Tallahassee and didn’t feel like it really belonged once the whole album had been tracked, so onto the b-side it went: an out-of-focus picture that you keep for sentimental reasons and show to people you know well, but which don’t put up on the shelf." -- Tumblr, when asked if there's a reason why he hasn't played it live
• "This song did not deserve to get left off 'Tallahassee.' It just didn't fit with the others. No matter where we put it in the sequence, Peter and I, we just couldn't make it work. We were sad because Peter had played the drums and it'd taken a long time for us to get it right and we had electric guitar which felt really transgressive for me at the time. Anyway, it's about a couple of alcoholics." -- 2017-10-08 - Button Factory - Dublin, Ireland
• "This is more like a mellow kind of tune about a couple of people who are going to get a divorce and, uh, you know, they just want to have some fun before it happens. Their ideas about fun are different from yours and mine. Because they like to light things on fire. This is called 'New Chevrolet in Flames'." -- 2017-11-11 - Union Transfer - Philadelphia, PA

Things Referenced in this Song

• A Colorado bulldog is an alcoholic drink made with Kahlua, vodka, milk, and Coca-Cola.
• "Oh would that you would kiss me/With the kisses of your mouth/'Cause your mouth is sweeter than wine" is a paraphrase of the Song of Songs 1:2.

Live Shows this Song Was Played at

• 2017-10-08 - Button Factory - Dublin, Ireland
• 2017-10-09 - Glasgow Art School - Glasgow, Scotland
• 2017-10-11 - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire - London, England
• 2017-10-12 - The Haunt - Brighton, England
• 2017-10-13 - De Helling - Utrecht, The Netherlands
• 2017-10-16 - Debaser Strand - Stockholm, Sweden
• 2017-11-08 - Calvin Theatre - Northampton, MA
• 2017-11-11 - Union Transfer - Philadelphia, PA
• 2017-11-13 - House of Blues - Boston, MA
• 2017-11-15 - Newport Music Hall - Columbus, OH
• 2017-12-05 - The National - Richmond, VA
• 2018-05-29 - Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago, IL

Videos of this Song

• 2017-11-15 - Newport Music Hall - Columbus, OH