Hot Rod Lincoln
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
Intro: My pappy said, "Son, you're gonna' drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that Hot Rod Lincoln."
1. Have you heard this story of the Hot Rod Race,
when Fords and Lincolns was settin' the pace?
That story is true, I'm here to say,
cause I was drivin' that Model A.
2. It's got a Lincoln motor and it's really souped up.
That Model A body makes it look like a pup.
It's got eight cylinders and it uses em all.
It's got overdrive and it just won't stall.
3. With a four-barrel carb and a dual exhaust,
and four eleven gears you can really get lost.
It's got safety tubes, but I ain't scared;
the brakes are good and the tires are fair.
4. Pulled out of San Pedro late one night.
The moon and the stars were shinin' bright.
We was drivin' up that Grapevine Hill,
passing cars like they was standing still.
5. Now all of a sudden in a wink of an eye,
a Cadillac sedan passed us by.
I said, "Boys, that's a mark for me!"
but by then the taillight was all you could see.
6. Now the fellas ribbed me for bein' behind,
so I thought I'd let that Lincoln unwind.
Took my foot off the gas and man alive,
I shoved it on down into overdrive.
7. I wound it up to a hundred-and-ten.
My speedometer said that Iąd hit top end.
My foot was glued like lead to the floor.
That's all there is and there ain't no more.
8. Now the boys all thought that I'd lost my sense.
Them telephone poles looked like a picket fence.
They said, "Slow down! I see spots!
The lines on the road just look like dots."
9. I took a corner and sideswiped a truck,
I crossed my fingers just for luck.
The fenders was clickin' the guardrail posts.
The guy beside me was white as a ghost.
10. Smoke was comin' from out of the back
when I started to gain on that Cadillac.
I knew I could catch him; I thought I could pass.
Don't you know by then we'd be low on gas?
11. Flames was comin' from out of the side.
Feel the tension. Man, what a ride!
I said, "Look out, boys, got a license to fly!"
And that Caddy pulled over and let us by.
12. Now all of a sudden she started to knockin'.
Down in the dips she started to rockin'.
I looked in my mirror; a red light was blinkin'
The cops was after my Hot Rod Lincoln!
13. Well they arrested me and they put me in jail,
and I called my pappy to throw my bail.
And he said, "Son, you're gonna' drive me to drinkin'
If you don't stop drivin' that Hot... Rod... Lincoln!"
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According to "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits" by Joel Whitburn, the
original version was by Tiny Hill and charted in 1951. It was recorded by
Charlie Ryan and the Timberline Riders in 1955. In 1960 it was covered by
Johnny Bond (reaching #26) and re-released by Charlie Ryan and the
Timberline Riders (reaching #33). The Commander Cody version from 1972
reached #9.
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