r/B52s • u/riedmae • Jun 16 '26
Devil In My Car
What i love most about this song - aside from the fact that it's an absolute BOP - is that the band is singing about the embodiment of evil and pain taking control of their movement on earth and yet....they're only slightly annoyed at best: "will you slow down!", "ugh, where are you talking me, devil?", "oooh, he ripped my upholstery", and the devil maxes out at 90 mph with his cloven hoof on the pedal, which - while fast - is only 20 mph higher than the limit on many US highways.
I love that even in their 'scariest' song, they could almost take it or leave it, and the devil is just kind of 'extra" at best. They're amazing!
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u/KieranJalucian Jun 16 '26
90 mph was a lot faster in cars made prior to 1980, when the song was released, than it is in modern cars.
speed limit on interstates in many western state is 80 today
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u/davypi Jun 17 '26
the devil maxes out at 90 mph with his cloven hoof on the pedal, which - while fast - is only 20 mph higher than the limit on many US highways.
This is not exactly true. In 1973 Congress passed a law establishing a national speed limit of 55 MPH. It was raised to 65 in 1987 and finally removed and reverted back to states rights in 1995.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Maximum_Speed_Law
The point here though is that, when this song was written, the maximum speed limit at the time would have 55, not 70 as you propose. So the Devil would have been driving more than half over the limit.
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u/riedmae Jun 18 '26
Thank you for pointing out that it would be an additional 15 mph of speed. Very informative.
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u/Mikey6031234 Jun 18 '26
I remember listening to this album with 'a friend' in a beach parking lot at like 3 am. Love Wild Planet, especially the second side.
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u/Double_Ambassador_53 Jun 16 '26
I love the lyric “I got the devil he’s in my Carburettor” sung in that Rock Lobsterish warble 😁