Mercedes Benz

"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. 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. History The song's lyrics were written at Vahsen's, a Port Chester, New York bar, on August 8, 1970, during an impromptu poetry jam between Joplin and songwriter Bob Neuwirth. The lyrics were inspired by the first line of a song written by the San Francisco beat poet Michael McClure, "Come on, God, and buy me a Mercedes Benz." Joplin heard it sung by a friend of McClure's, and she began to sing it too. At the Port Chester bar, Joplin sang the line a few times and began riffing on McClure lyrics, while Neuwirth copied the new lyrics onto bar napkins, 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. 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.