Drive (The Cars song)
| "Drive" | ||||||||||||||
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A-side label of U.S. vinyl single
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| Single by The Cars | ||||||||||||||
| from the album Heartbeat City | ||||||||||||||
| B-side | "Stranger Eyes" | |||||||||||||
| Released | July 23, 1984 | |||||||||||||
| Format | 7" single, 12" vinyl , Mini Cd | |||||||||||||
| Recorded | 1983 | |||||||||||||
| Length | 3:54 | |||||||||||||
| Label | Elektra 69706 | |||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Ric Ocasek | |||||||||||||
| Producer(s) |
Robert John "Mutt" Lange The Cars |
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| The Cars singles chronology | ||||||||||||||
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"Drive" is a 1984 song by The Cars, the third single from the band's Heartbeat City album released in March 1984 and their biggest international hit. Written by Ric Ocasek, the track was sung by bassist Benjamin Orr and produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange with the band. Upon its release, "Drive" became The Cars' highest charting single in the United States, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; on the Adult Contemporary chart, the song went to No. 1. It reached No. 4 in West Germany, No. 6 in Canada, No. 5 (No. 4 on re-entry in 1985) in the UK and No. 3 (No. 5 on re-entry in 1985) in Ireland.
The song is associated with the July 1985 Live Aid event, where it was performed by Benjamin Orr during the Philadelphia event; previously, the song was used as the background music to a montage of clips depicting the contemporaneous Ethiopian famine during the London event, which was introduced by English musician David Bowie. Following the concert it was re-released in the UK and peaked at No. 4 in August 1985. Proceeds from the sales of the re-released song raised nearly £160,000 for the Band Aid Trust: Ocasek presented the charity's trustee Midge Ure with a cheque for the amount while he was in London in November 1986 promoting his solo album This Side of Paradise.
In a retrospective review of the single, AllMusic journalist Donald A. Guarisco praised the song for being "a gorgeous ballad that matches heartfelt songwriting to an alluring electronic soundscape. The music reflects the lyrical tone with a lovely melody that rises and falls in a soothing yet sad fashion."
The music video was directed by actor Timothy Hutton and features model and actress Paulina Porizkova, who would later become Ric Ocasek's wife.
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