Well we can't forget this one.
Now me and my wife and my brother Joe,
took off in my Ford from San Pedro.
We hadn't much gas 'n' the tires was low,
but the doggone Ford could really go.
Now along about the middle of the night,
we were rippin' along like white folks might,
when a Mercury behind he blinked his lights,
and he honked his horn and he flew outside.
We had twin pipes and a Columbia butt,
you people may think that I'm in a rut,
but to you folks who don't dig the jive,
that's two carburetors and an overdrive.
We made grease spots outta many good town,
and left the cops heads spinnin' round 'n' round.
They wouldn't chase, they'd run and hide,
but me and that Mercury stayed side by side.
Now we were Ford men and we likely knew,
that we would race until somethin' blew,
and we thought it over,
now, wouldn't you?
I looked down at my lovely bride,
her face was blue, I thought she'd died.
We left streaks through towns about forty feet wide,
but me and that Mercury stayed side by side.
My brother was pale, he said he was sick,
he said he was just a nervous wreck.
But why should I worry, for what the heck,
me and that Mercury was still neck-and-neck.
Now on through the deserts we did glide,
a-flyin' low and a-flyin' wide,
me an' that Mercury was a-takin' a ride,
and we stayed exactly side by side.
Now I looked in my mirror and I saw somethin' comin',
I thought it was a plane by the way it was a-runnin'.
It was a-hummin' along at a terrible pace,
and I knew right then it was the end of the race.
When it flew by us, I turned the other way,
the guy in the Mercury had nothin' to say,
for it was a kid, in a hopped up Model-A.
And the follow up.
You've heard'a the guy an' his brother Joe,
who took off in their Ford from San Pedro,
an' how they raced through deserts wide,
with a Mercury that stayed right by their side.
Now I'm the guy who was in that Merc,
an' I'm callin' myself all kind of a jerk,
for ever tryin' that kind've a race,
I might have known I'd lose my face.
But the road was straight 'n' the road was wide,
'n' me 'n' that Ford stayed side by side.
I stuck to him through thick an' thin,
but I knew all the time I's riskin' my skin.
When the hopped-up Model-A blew a'past,
I wondered then how long it would last,
but I didn't have too long to wait,
to see what would happen, to learn my fate.
The cop's heads, who spun in fright,
got on their bikes an' took to flight.
They came up behind me with a siren blast,
I knew right then my fun had passed.
The guy in the Ford kept racin' on,
he was tryin' to catch that son-of-a-gun,
who was drivin' that hot rod Model-A,
but I didn't have a thing to say.
Now I'm sittin' here alone in the klink,
with plenty of time to wonder and think.
I pace the floor, I frume an' fret,
I don't even have a cigarette.
Oh, why did I ever get in that race,
to end up here in this awful place?
Should have had more sense, is all I can say,
don't ever race with a kid in a hopped-up Model-A.
And the follow-up to the follow up.
Well you've heard the story of the hot-rod race that fatal day,
when the Ford and the Mercury went out to play.
This is the inside story I'm here to say,
I was the kid that was a-drivin' that Model-A.
It's got a Lincoln motor and it's really souped up,
and that Model-A body makes it look like a pup.
It's got twelve cylinders, and uses them all,
with an overdrive that just won't stall.
It's got a four-barrel carb and dual exhaust,
4-11 gears, she can really get lost.
Got safety tubes and I'm not scared,
the brakes are good and the tires are fair.
We left San Pedro late one night,
the moon and the stars were shining bright,
everything went fine up the Grapevine hill,
we was passin' cars like they was standin' still.
Then all of a sudden, like a flick of an eye,
a Cadillac sedan had passed us by.
The remark was made "there's the car for me,"
but by then the taillights were all you could see.
Well the fellers ribbed me for bein' behind,
so I started to make that Lincoln unwind.
I took my foot off the gas and man alive,
I shoved it down into overdrive.
Well I wound it up to a hundred and ten,
twisted the speedometer cable off the end.
I had my foot keyed clear to the floor,
said "that's all there is, there ain't no more."
I went around a corner and I passed a truck,
I whispered a prayer, just for luck.
The fenders was clickin' a guardrail post
the guys beside me were white as a ghost.
I guess they'd thought I'd lost my sense,
the telephone poles looked like a picket fence.
They said "slow down, I see spots,"
the lines on the road just looked like dots.
Smoke was rollin' outta the back,
when I started to gain on that Cadillac.
I knew I could catch him, and hoped I could pass,
But when I did, I'd be short on gas.
We went around a corner with the tires on the side,
you could feel the tension, man what a ride!
I said "hold on, I got a license to fly,"
and the Cadillac pulled over and let me go by.
Then all of a-sudden, the rods started knockin',
when down in the dip, she started a-rockin'.
I looked in my mirror 'n' red lights was blinkin'.
The cops was after my hot rod Lincoln.
Well, they arrested me, and put me in jail.
I called my pop to go my bail.
He said "son, you're gonna drive me to drinkin'
if you don't stop drivin' that hot rod Lincoln."
And many variations of all three over the years.