You know Bruce has gone full beast mode when he describes a Cadillac as “tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur.” Turning a machine into an extinct reptile might sound odd, but it’s perfect imagery. He makes the car feel alive. It’s no longer just a Cadillac – it’s a living, breathing beast. Bruce clearly had a thing for Cadillacs. He later wrote Pink Cadillac which Natalie Cole turned into a hit, but that’s a trip for another time.
Cadillac Ranch might well be the closest I’ve ever come to being a car guy. Automatically, Cadillacs became my favourite car make and remain so to this day – all because of this song. I reckon it was also one of the first straight-up Bruce rockers I can remember hearing. It certainly got my engines roaring as an early teen. It’s just plain fun. And how about the Big Man’s saxophone solo?! Whenever I hear it now, I can’t help but be transported back to those good old days of the excitement and exuberance of falling headfirst into all his music.
The following was extracted from the Wikipedia article below:
Cadillac Ranch was first released on Springsteen’s 1980 album The River. In 1981 it was released as a single in Europe, backed by Be True in France (see image above) and by Wreck on the Highway in the UK.
The song’s title comes from Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. Cadillac Ranch is a sculpture showing ten Cadillac automobiles with their hoods buried in the ground. Springsteen used Cadillac Ranch as a metaphor for his theme; that these once elite cars are now expendable.
Well there she sits buddy just a-gleaming in the sun
There to greet a working man when his day is done
I’m gonna pack my pa and I’m gonna pack my aunt
I’m gonna take them down to the Cadillac Ranch
Eldorado fins, whitewalls and skirts
Rides just like a little bit of heaven here on earth
Well buddy when I die throw my body in the back
And drive me to the junkyard in my Cadillac
(Chorus)
Cadillac, Cadillac
Long and dark shiny and black
Open up your engines let `em roar
Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur
James Dean in that Mercury `49
Junior Johnson runnin’ through the woods of Caroline
Even Burt Reynolds in that black Trans Am
All gonna meet down at the Cadillac Ranch
(Chorus)
Hey little girlie in the blue jeans so tight
Drivin’ alone through the Wisconsin night
You’re my last love you’re my last chance
Don’t let `em take me to the Cadillac Ranch
References:
1. Cadillac Ranch (Bruce Springsteen song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Fun song I instantly liked, though as a proud German, I have to say nothing can beat a Porsche 911!😂
Porsches rock! I had the opportunity to drive one once & it was AWESOME.
I’ve never been a Cadillac person, but a former lover of mine had a 61 Caddy, baby blue with a white leather interior. Big as a house.
I love songs about cars. Talk about a whole ‘nother subset of music. LOL
I’m not a car guy in the least – neither for the machinery nor much of the music – but this one rocked my socks off.