Though mega-talented and extremely consistent, my very favorite artists aren’t perfect.
This week I will feature five songs that, for lack of a better word, suck. But they are notable in that they were recorded by five artists I rank among the best I’ve ever heard.
What I think you’ll find is that all of these songs are interesting failures.
Except maybe today’s SOTD, Paul Simon’s ‘Cars Are Care,’ which is too bad to even be interesting.
The penultimate song on the otherwise splended Hearts and Bones album, ‘Cars Are Cars’ is the one Paul Simon tune that fails to make the grade either musically or lyrically. He’s written some bum lyrics, he’s composed some uninspiring melodies… only this once did he do both so entirely.
What possessed Simon to write, record and release this song? Does he now, or did he ever, think it’s actually good? Does anybody?
All over the world
Cars are cars
All over the world
Similarly made
Similarly sold
In a motorcade
Abandoned when they’re old
Cars are cars
All over the world
Cars are cars
All over the world
Cars are cars
All over the world
Engine in the front
Jack in the back
Wheels take the brunt
Pinion and a rack
Cars are cars
All over the world
Cars are cars
All over the world
But people are strangers
They change with the curve
From time zone to time zone
As we can observe
They shut down their borders
And think they’re immune
They stand on their differences
And shoot at the moon
But cars are cars
All over the world
Cars are cars
All over the world
Drive ’em on the left
Drive ’em on the right
Susceptible to theft
In the middle of the night
Cars are cars
All over the world
Cars are cars
All over the world
I once had a car
That was more like a home
I lived in it, loved In It
Polished its chrome
If some of my homes
Had been more
like my car
I probably wouldn’t have
Traveled this far
Cars are cars
All over the world
Cars are cars
All over the world
Cars are cars
All over the world
Meet Me In Montauk 
Great theme!
This is a legendarily bad song, at least in our family.😄 Do you thnk it is widely panned by critics and Simon fans other than us?
It would be easy to write this one off as a lull in Simon’s career, but, as you pointed out, this is the same album that featured “Hears and Bones” and “Train in the Distance,” two of my favorite Simon songs,
I really don’t know what he was thinking with this one!
I saw this referenced as Simon’s worst song in quite a few places, and I don’t think I read one defense of it. This may well be the one thing about which there is absolutely no argument!
Really, I LOVE this song just kidding, first time I’ve ever heard it, very silly song
I don’t dislike the music at all. Imagine putting different lyrics to this music; it could be a perfectly lovely Simon song, no? But, yeah, it’s hard to get past these awful lyrics. And, I, too, ADORE the theme 🙂