Mercedes Benz (song)

A Porsche driven by Janis Joplin, customized with psychedelic art

"Mercedes Benz" is an a cappella song written by singer Janis Joplin with the poets Michael McClure and Bob Neuwirth, and originally recorded by Joplin. In the song, the singer asks the Lord to buy her a Mercedes-Benz, a color TV, and a "night on the town". It was recorded in one take^[1] on October 1, 1970, along with a couple of rowdy verses of "Happy Birthday" sung for John Lennon. These were the last tracks Joplin ever recorded; she died three days later, on October 4. The song appeared on the album Pearl, released in 1971.

The song title, as listed on that album, contains no hyphen although the actual automobile brand name is hyphenated. The song references Dialing for Dollars, an old segment carried on many local TV shows which required one to be watching the show in order to win.

In 2000, Joplin's recording was remixed, adding a beat and a background melody. The remixed version was included on collections of Joplin's greatest hits.

Cover versions

• 1971 – Elton John covered the song briefly on his American tour
• early 1970s – Dave Clark & Friends recorded a version of this song, which remained unreleased until 2010
• 1972 – the song was covered by the Goose Creek Symphony, becoming their best-known recording
• 1980 – German singer-songwriter Klaus Lage recorded a version in German language
• 1990 – American blues artist Taj Mahal covered the song on the album Blue Light Boogie
• 1992 – French-Canadian pop star Mitsou recorded a dance-pop version of the song on her EP Heading West
• 1994 – Bob Rivers released a parody titled "Honda Accord"
• 1994 – a cover version was made by a Dutch pop/dance band T-Spoon
• 1997 – a cover version was made by the Italian pop/dance singer Spagna, and included as a ghost track on her album Indivisibili
• 1998 – former Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist Gilby Clarke included a version of the song on his album Rubber
• 1999 – the EP Humppaorgiat by the Finnish comedy group Eläkeläiset featured a cover titled KELA, the lyrics requesting for a moped, a submachinegun, a blow-up doll, a stocked medicine cabinet and for "many things truly awesome" from the Social Insurance Institution.
• 1999 – the Japanese adult video star Miki Sawaguchi included a cover version of the song on her album Big Boobs/Watashi no Mune de Onemurinasai. Her version is also a capella, and sung in thickly-accented English
• 2001 – the key line was interpolated into the opera Jeppe: The Cruel Comedy
• 2009 – a cover version was made by Kendel Carson and released on her album Alright Dynamite
• 2010 – the song was covered by Jon Boden as part of his A Folk Song A Day project.
• 2010 – a cover version by Jackyl on the When Moonshine and Dynamite Collide album

In popular culture

The song has been used several times in car advertisements. Mercedes-Benz used it in television commercials for their cars as early as 1995. The song appeared in additional advertisements in 2007 and again in an advertisement which aired on February 6th, 2011 during a Super Bowl commercial. Another commercial, for the BMW Z3, had the driver listening to a cassette tape of the song, frowning after Mercedes-Benz was mentioned, and throwing the tape out of the car after the Porsche is mentioned.

The pianist Glenn Gould used the song prominently in the third and final radio documentary he made for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1977. The documentary, titled The Quiet In The Land, is part of what is often referred to as Gould's Solitude Trilogy.

The song was used in the opening of the German movie Der Baader Meinhof Komplex and the film Bangkok Hilton.

References

Notes

1. ^ Pearl album by Janis Joplin, Superseventies.com