27. The Go-Go's, Skidmarks on My Heart
To feel jealous over a lover’s obsession with a car is probably a sign that there’s something wrong with oneself, or one’s lover, or both. Jealousy of a dog I could get, but a dumb machine? “That Pontiac GTO pile,” in this case?—although the 1970 GTO Judge was pretty awesome. Still, it doesn’t seem worth it, though I am admittedly not a car person. More than anything, this funny little gem of a song hearkens back to a time when cars were fully mechanical, not tires attached to a motherboard. When an everyman actually could work on a car.
The Go-Go's, "Skidmarks on My Heart," written by Charlotte Caffey and Belinda Carlisle, 1981.
This post is part of Music 100, a love letter to songs. 100 words on 100 songs in 100 days, running from Groundhog Day through May 31, 2025. Inspired by my MFAH 100 project.
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Have a song you’d like me to consider? Send a message or leave a comment. I will give it a serious listen.
WARNING: this series should come with a warning that if you click on the YouTube link as I did 30 minutes ago, you will be teased with must-see videos like "whatever happened to the stars of Cheers?" which I just finished watching. And of course YouTube's algorithms know what you have looked at in the past and line up enough material to have you wasting three or four hours if you're not careful... All that being said, I loved the Go Go's and that generation of surf/muscle car music!