{"id":11451,"date":"2019-08-21T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=11451"},"modified":"2024-01-02T09:06:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-02T17:06:46","slug":"roll-of-the-dice-pink-cadillac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/21\/roll-of-the-dice-pink-cadillac\/","title":{"rendered":"Roll of the Dice: Pink Cadillac"},"content":{"rendered":"

“This is a song about sin! According to the Bible (at least the way I was taught), way back in the Garden of Eden, Eve showed Adam the apple, Adam took a bite… and here we are tonight! That’s a little hard to believe… there had to be something more than an <\/span>apple<\/em><\/span>. So I got to thinking… I figured it couldn’t be an apple, so it must have been… it must have been…”\u00a0 <\/span>–Bruce Springsteen, introducing the debut of “Pink Cadillac” in St. Paul on July 1, 1984<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a vagina.<\/p>\n

C’mon folks, it’s 2019–can we all stop pussyfooting around now and just state outright that “Pink Cadillac” is a start-to-finish ode to female genitalia?<\/p>\n

Seriously, one of the more entertaining aspects of being a Springsteen scholar has to be the knots that authors, critics, reviewers, and commentators tie themselves in to ensure that they don’t accidentally overstep the bounds of discretion.<\/p>\n

Even Brian Hiatt, in his new\u00a0Stories Behind the Songs<\/em> book, goes to great lengths to avoid describing what the song is about, although his hilarious quote of why Bruce withdrew his blessing for Bette Midler’s cover<\/a> (“I mean, it’s just in your face!”) has to be my favorite line in the book.<\/p>\n

So let’s end that here and now.<\/p>\n

I know that some music historians will point to Elvis Presley’s legendary pink Cadillac as the inspiration for this song and argue that it’s a symbol of success or something. To which I reply, go listen to Elvis’ song, “Baby Let’s Play House.” Recorded five months prior to his famous car purchase, it’s a cover of Arthur Gunter’s 1954 original, but with a key lyric change.<\/p>\n

Gunter’s version:<\/p>\n

Well, you may go to college<\/em>
\nYou may go to school<\/em>
\nYou may get religion<\/em>
\nBut don’t you be nobody’s fool<\/em><\/p>\n

Elvis’ version:<\/p>\n

Well, you may go to college<\/em>
\nYou may go to school<\/em>
\nYou may have a pink Cadillac<\/em>
\nBut don’t you be nobody’s fool<\/em><\/p>\n