Janis JoplinMercedes Benz Lyrics: [Spoken:] I'd like to do a song of great social and political import. It goes like this.
[Sung, a capella:] Oh Lord, won't'cha buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So Lord, won’t'cha buy me a Mercedes Benz?
Oh Lord, won’t'cha buy me a color TV? [Dialing For Dollars]1 is trying to find me. I wait for delivery each day until three, [ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/fav ] So oh Lord, won’t'cha buy me a color TV ?
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town? I’m counting on you, Lord, please don’t let me down. Prove that you love me and buy the next round, Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town?
Everybody! Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends, Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So, Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
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Janis Joplin Mercedes Benz Lyrics Information:
MERCEDES BENZ2
Written by: Janis Joplin, Mike McClure & Bob Neuwirth
Performed by: Janis Joplin 34
First released: 5
Single: April 1971
Album: February 1, 1971
1Dialing for Dollars , which originated as a radio show, turned into a
franchised format for local television programs in the United States and
Canada, popular in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The program's usual format
had the host, a local television personality, announce a certain password to
the audience at the beginning of the program and then randomly select a
phone number from a bowl or drum (either from those that had been previously
submitted by viewers, or by scraps of paper cut from telephone directories)
and call it. If the viewer was watching the show, they would know that they
were being called, answer the phone with the correct password, and would win
a monetary prize. If the number did not answer, the prize money would
continue to increase.
2 Joplin wrote "Mercedes Benz" as a critical social commentary on how people
relate happiness to money and material possessions and the materialistic
individuals who place too much value on items such as a Mercedes-Benz. Recorded
in one take (along with a couple of rowdy verses of "Happy Birthday", sung for
John Lennon), on October 1, 1970, and were the last songs Joplin ever made; she
died on October 4th, 1970. It appeared on the album Pearl (1971). The song title,
as listed on that album, contains no hyphen, although the automobile brand name
is hyphenated. "Mercedes Benz" never made it to the Hot 100 chart, however,
most people consider it a classic.
3 Covered by:
Jimmy Carl Black & the X-Tra Combo
Celeste Carballo
Kendel Carson
Gary Clark (former drummer with Guns N' Roses)
Gilby Clarke
C.C. Coletti
Concert Blond
Edson Cordeiro
Mitch Daniel
Eläkeläiset (parodied in Finnish as "KELA")
Goose Creek Symphony
Elton John
Janis Joplin & the Full Tilt Boogie Band
Klaus Lage
Taj Mahal
Mitsou
Steve Morrison
Bob Neuwirth (one of the co-writers)
Emmerson Nogueira
Angie Palmer
Peggy & Brad
The Rimshots
Bob Rivers (parodied as "Honda Accord") 6
Jan Rot & Marjolein Meijers (recorded in Dutch)
7even Level (the group's name contains a 7 in the title)
Spagna (as a hidden track on her album Indivisibili
T-Spoon
Lonie Walker
Dusty Wright
et al.
4 Pop-cultural references:
* Mercedes-Benz used the song in a 2007 commercial.
* It was used in a commercial for the BMW Z3 that had the driver listening
to a tape of the song, and frowning after Mercedes-Benz was mentioned and
then throwing the tape out of the car.
* It was also used as the opening song of the German movie Der Baader
Meinhof Komplex.
et al.
5 Released on: *
SINGLE(S)
(1)Janis Joplin:
A-side: "Cry Baby"
B-side: "Mercedes Benz"
(a) Columbia, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm Single, #4-45378, Japan-1971.
(b) Columbia, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm Single, #CBS-7217, Portugal-1971.
(c) Columbia, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm Single, #7217, Germany-1971.
(d) Columbia, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm Single, #CBS-7217, Netherlands-1971.
(2)Janis Joplin
A-side: "Mercedes Benz"
B-side: "Me & Bobby McGee"
(a) CBS-Sony, 7-Inch, Vinyl, 45rpm Single, #82097, Japan-1971.
* The album(s) and record(s) listed here may have different versions of
the song than the one that was transcribed. Also, this list is not
intended to be the complete discography on which this song appears.
