The song is about a woman who buys a used Oldsmobile with a powerful 455 V8 engine. Despite its flaws, which include a leaky roof and excessive noise, she enjoys racing and winning against local car enthusiasts. During one race, though, she skids on a curve and crashes through a guardrail; although she is unhurt, the car is badly damaged and has to be towed away.
Mattea noted of the song that the band recorded several takes, but decided to keep the first one because "no one thought they were being recorded, and everyone was just playing with abandon." She also noted that due to the nature of the recording, session musician Jim Keltner can be heard dropping his drumsticks at the end of the song and laughing.[2]
Critical reception
Billboard magazine gave the song a mixed review, saying that it was "cleverly written" but that "neither Mattea's vocal energy nor the production pace infuses the song with the sass and sizzle the lyric suggests."[3]
^Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 217.
^Flans, Robyn (2006). The Definitive Collection (CD booklet). Kathy Mattea. Mercury Records. B0007233-02.
^Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 18 January 1997. ISSN0006-2510. Retrieved April 1, 2015.
^Love Travels (CD booklet). Kathy Mattea. Mercury Nashville. 1997. 314 532 899 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
