"Mercedes Benz" is an a cappella song written by the American singer Janis Joplin with Bob Neuwirth and the poet Michael McClure. The song was originally recorded by Joplin.[1] A straightforward reading of the song lyrics indicate that the song is about the desire for possessions and pleasure, but at least one writer considers it to be a rejection of consumerism.[1]
History
The Mercedes-Benz 600 is one of the inspirations for the song lyrics.
The song's lyrics were written down at Vahsen's, a Port Chester, New York bar, on August 8, 1970, during an impromptu poetry jam between Joplin and songwriter Bob Neuwirth.[2] The lyrics are from by a poem written by the San Francisco beat poet Michael McClure, "Mercedes Benz." Joplin heard it sung by friends of McClure's, Rip Torn and Emmett Grogan and she began to sing it too.[3]
In her memoir Just Kids, Patti Smith talked about the famous trip to Vahsen's and revealed that the esteemed group were also joined on the drinking session by Torn's wife Geraldine Page. [4] Smith recalled that Joplin started reciting, “Oh, Lord won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz” – the first line of McClure’s poem. The four others then started banging beer mugs on the table to form a rhythm, and Neuwirth wrote down the lyrics on a napkin, which he kept for years afterwards. She sang the new version for the first time that night at her concert at Capitol Theatre in Port Chester.[2]Bobby Womack asserts in his autobiography that Joplin was inspired to come up with the lyrics after going for a ride with him in his new Mercedes-Benz 600.[5]
In the song, Joplin asks God to prove his love for her by buying her a Mercedes-Benz automobile, a color TV (then a luxury item), and a "night on the town." There is also a reference to Dialing for Dollars, a franchised format local television program, which required a person to be watching the show to win a prize when the show called the person’s phone number, hence the singer's need for a TV. It was the last song Joplin recorded before her death.
The song was recorded in one take[6] during a recording session on October 1, 1970. These were the last tracks Joplin ever recorded as she died three days later, on October 4. The song appeared on the album Pearl, released in 1971. The song title, as listed on that album, contains no hyphen although the actual automobile brand name is hyphenated as Mercedes-Benz.
In 2003, Joplin's recording was remixed, adding a beat and a background melody. The remixed version was included on collections of Joplin's greatest hits.
Cover versions
1971 – Elton John covered the song briefly on his American tour
1972 – the song was covered by the Goose Creek Symphony, becoming their best-known recording, peaking at #64 on the US Hot 100[7] and #49 in Canada.[8]
1974 – Bob Neuwirth recorded a country style version on his debut self titled album.
1999 – the Japanese adult video star Miki Sawaguchi included a cover version of the song on her album Big Boobs/Watashi no Mune de Onemurinasai. Her version is also a capella, and sung in thickly-accented English
2014 – MonaLisa Twins covered the song on their album MonaLisa Play Beatles & More
2016 – a re-production feat. Janis Joplin by producer duo Hecchi & Kethmer as a single
2017 – The Spanish Folk Metal band Mägo de Oz performed a live version of the song in the concert with the Symphony Orchestra of Mexico Diabulus In Ópera. Previously they made a version like B Side of the song "Deja de llorar (y vuélvete a levantar)".
2017 – Vanessa Carlton performed the song multiple times while touring various cities in North America, often as the final song in the encore.[11]
2018 – The German band AnnenMayKantereit published an a cappella cover of the song on their YouTube channel featuring the band's lead singer Henning May.[12]
The pianist Glenn Gould used the song prominently in the third and final radio documentary he made for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1977. The documentary, titled The Quiet in the Land, is part of what is often referred to as Gould's Solitude Trilogy.
The song has been used several times in car advertisements. Mercedes-Benz used it in television commercials for their cars as early as 1995. The song appeared again in an advertisement which aired on February 6, 2011, during a Super Bowl commercial in addition to advertisements in 2007. Another commercial, for the BMW Z3, had the driver listening to a cassette tape of the song, frowning after Mercedes-Benz was mentioned, and throwing the tape out of the car after the Porsche is mentioned.
In 2011, on the initiative of the British music and lifestyle BLAG Magazine, singer and songwriter Estelle, rapper and producer David Banner and the musician Daley composed the new song "Benz", inspired by Joplin's "Mercedes Benz".[13][14][15]
In a 2012 episode of the British TV Series Citizen Khan, the title character sings his own version when driving his yellow Mercedes. "Oh lord bought me a Mercedes-Benz. My friends all drive Datsuns. They are infidels."
In the 2019–2020 Arrowverse crossover, Crisis on Infinite Earths, the song is mentioned by Sara Lance as being the final song recorded by Joplin. In the show's fictional timeline, history was altered to make Joplin's last song "Little Robot Man.”
^See Womack, Bobby; Ashton, Robert (2006). Midnight Mover: Autobiography. John Blake Publishing. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. We rode a couple of blocks while she fixed a tune in her head and then started singing. A line just spilled out. 'Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz. 'My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.'
