Written by vocalist and frontman Jim Peterik, the song is about a girl that often used him for her mode of transportation, leading Peterik to surmise that he was little more than her "vehicle".
The follow up to that story is that, after this song came out (I think he was still a teenager when he recorded it) they reconnected, got married, and have been ever since.
Thanks to everyone for clearing that up! I’ve listened to this song since it came out in 1970, and while the lyrics can be interpreted a certain way, I never really thought the song was about perversion. I’m not blaming Brad or Lex though, I’m thinking it’s more of a generational thing. People today have been much more exposed to that kind of stuff than we were.
Man I remember the crazy discussion on the stream about this song and swore that when you guys uploaded it I was going to post the entire story behind the lyrics and meaning of it: This was written by Jim Peterik, who was the group's guitar player and lead singer. He told Songfacts how it came together: "On April 9, 1968 while I was waiting to see one of my favorite groups, The Turtles, at Riverside Brookfield High School in the Chicago Suburb of Riverside, my eyes wandered to the girl standing in front of me - she was a vision in knee socks and orange culottes - long silky hair and huge blue eyes. As I was trying to screw up the courage to say hello, she turned to me and said, 'Aren't you Peterik?' Turns out she had seen the Ides Of March a month previously when we opened for the New Colony Six at Morton West High School. I said, 'Yeah,' and from there the conversation just seemed to flow. Never had I met a girl I had so much in common with. Karen and I sat together at the show, and by 'Happy Together' she had placed her leg on top of mine (a very positive sign for a first date). After about six months of great dates, good times, meadows, making out and serenades, Karen informed me that it was over between us, that she wanted to 'See other people." I was thoroughly heartbroken. I spent the next few months writing sad songs, depressive melodies, introspective garbage, and forcing the Ides to do long Blues jams for our show encores (as the audience streamed out of the Grand Ballroom at State Pier). I was also on a mission to find another Karen. There was a girl who looked a lot like her, but when we started dating, I realized that personality was 9/10's of the law. I guess I had to somehow win her back! One day I got a call from Karen. My heart jumped into my throat. She asked me if I could drive her to modeling school (she knew I had a pristine white '64 Valiant with mag wheel covers). Instead of playing it cool, I found myself saying, 'I'll be right over.' I figured our proximity would remind her how much she really loved me. It was great riding next to her again, though I had to make sure I controlled my hands and my heart. This pattern continued for a few weeks with Karen asking me to drive her to various appointments and functions. We even sang at a few coffee houses as a duo (we called ourselves "Genesis" predating the famous group by about three years). Though it was great to be with her, the newly platonic nature of our relationship was bummin' me out. One day in a fit of frustration, I heard myself blurt out to her 'You know, all I am to you is your Vehicle' (The word baby was added later). Just then the light bulb popped up on top of my head and I thought about all the guys like me who don't mind being taken for a ride by a beautiful girl. I said 'See you later' and started writing the song."
The Ides of March are from Chicago. The song was written by Jim Peterik who was 18 at the time......recorded when he was 19/20.......pretty amazing voice for someone that young.
Well, maybe, but it had nothing to do with this song. When he said, "I've got pictures, candy, I'm a lovable man", he was just saying the things that were expected back then like, flowers and chocolates ... the pictures was to show he had friends and family NOT a creep.
We listened to this one back in the day and never gave the context of the lyrics a second thought. The beat, vocals and instrumentation are so cool we never thought beyond it. Leave it to you guys to uncover its secrets!
Brad & Lex, Excellent one-hit wonder! Their singer/Keyboardist Jim Peterik co-wrote 7 Survivor songs including "Eye Of The Tiger", 38 Special's "Hold On Loosely and "Caught Up in You"!! Jim Peterik sounds like David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears. In the song he’s just transportation for her lol. Their only real hit in the US, UK and Australia.
Peterik co-wrote all Survivor songs and singles except for the "Moment of Truth" from the Karate Kid movie and he wasn't a member of Survivor when they released their album "Reach". Peterik co-wrote, as a member of Survivor, 7 top 20 hits. 5 of those were top 10 hits. With .38 Special, he co-wrote at least 3 top 40 hits. The third one being: "The Sound of Your Voice" which went to #33 on the Hot 100. Survivor's song Rockin' into the Night reached #43 for .38 Special. It's success was the reason why Peterik was asked to co-write songs with them.
"Child" was a term of endearment used a bunch in everyday language back then.....much like "baby." It was not in reference to a very young person. Groups like The Five Stairsteps had a great song called "Ooh Child" which speaks of things getting better between a man and his sweetheart. Think of Guns and Roses "Sweet Child of Mine." You get the gist. It was no different than using "baby" in songs like Smokey Robinson's "Ooh Baby Baby."
When he said, "I've got pictures, candy, I'm a lovable man", he was just saying the things that were expected back then. Bringing/giving a girl flowers and chocolates was considered normal ... and the pictures was to show her he had friends and family and was NOT a creep. We were told to NOT judge a book by its cover, but today's youth ASSUME the worst BEFORE they even hear a person out or look into their past/history. The fact of the matter is, he was being used for his vehicle, and was willing to do that, just to be near her, like a lot of us guys do. Us nice guys ... we're usually dopes about this kind of thing and let women take advantage of us, just in the hope that they'll like us. In his case, it wasn't just a song, it was real life, the ploy worked and they've been married ever since !!!
Ides of March did have other local hits in the Chicago area that sound quite different. Their first hit, You Wouldn't Listen, was Beatlesque pop. After Vehicle, they had a minor hit with LA Goodbye. That one had an acoustic soft rock sound.
I'm glad Mke K put the song story up. because, although I'd seen it before, it's good everyone else gets some clarification. Also, you need to talk to your grand parents maybe, about how people talked back then. it was a whole different vibe back then, a who different lingo, and people kinda doing whatever they wanted. You gotta think, drugs, and hippy movement, and 60's/70's radicals movements, women's lib, all sorts of social changes happening. You probably need to watch some period films from the late 60's early 70's to pick up on a lot of it i'm sure.
The horns are singing, heyyyyy it’s the 70’sssss. Heyyyyyy it’s the 70’ssssss!!” Haha the way you look at each other after the first line cracked me UP!!
If you thought the lyrics were creepy, you should see the guy who wrote and sang it. Seriously he's really ... Hi, Jimmy! Nice purple hair ya got there! 👋😁 All joking aside, Jim Peterik is probably the nicest, politest, most humble and down to earth guy around and a song writing machine penning many hits for his own band Survivor and for .38 Special, and recently helped Dennis DeYoung of Styx fame put out his last two albums ...
You have to take this song in the context of the times. There wasn’t this open perversion back then as there is now. We didn’t insinuate a creep factor into this or other similar songs as you would today. The “child” reference is euphemism or just a term of endearment, because later in the song he refers to her as a woman. Yes, there were bad things happening back then, but still, it was a much simpler time.
Hey y'all from Tennessee. I have always loved that song , it rocks. Never heard anybody back then say it was creepy. Actually this is the first time I have heard that word connected with the song. I love yall
You we are listening to this music in an age that has become very jaded, in the 60’s and 70’s things were a more innocent. Most these people were pretty young when writing these songs
I saw this Chicago based band in the auditorium of Mishawaka High School in northern Indiana in 1970. Teased my hair up into a big ginger fro for the occasion.
I think this song was directed towards being famous and being a superstar singing, and touring "I'm your vehicle baby, I'll take you anyway you want to go"!.. and I think when he was saying child back then that meant someone still learning so he was reaching out to The Youth and promoting his songs All At the same time, No foul play, about it, what so ever!
Ok I'll bite: the "child" reference was just an expression (mostly made in a friendly debate) more commonly used within a certain community from back in the day like.. "Child please!" OR "Chile please!"
You got it, Lex. This song arrived on the heels of Chicago's breakout with its horns. Chicago, at first called the Chicago Transit Authority, splashed big in "68 with many hits very quickly. It also rocked out more at first than it did in later years. I recommend their hit, "Beginnings"
TOP TUNE! Got A Mint Copy On Vinyl. First Time I Heard This Was In The Film “Rocky”. Loved It Ever Since! Check Out The Story Behind It. It Ain’t What Ya Thinking Brad.✌🏻😬🏴
Thanks for doing one of my favorite songs ! VEHICLE !!! Jim Peterik The Ides of March ! and Survivor ,Yes Please do GOT TO GET IT ON by BILL CHASE Live for more horns and soulful singing !!
Yep, back then it was common slang/colloquialism to refer to your girlfriend or boyfriend as "child". Other singers/songwriters also used that slang. Like Lionel Richie in the Commodores song "Just to Be Close To You" (1:15 in the song).
If you look at the album cover-something even more sinister appears-a discarded baby doll on a roadside. Although the song itself has a completely different meaning-see Mike K's post. but yet most people don't know the real story.
Let me add this: when this song came out, "mafia" was in style. Double-breasted suits, gangster hats, big black sedans, etc. This song just played into that, I think. Hearing it back then, I didn't think anything scandalous about it . . . it was just a flirtatious, playful way to express to a young woman how desperately he wanted to impress her. He would give her what she wanted, do what she wanted, all to win her favor.
These guys were great live. The lyrics sound worse now but it wasn't uncommon for some guys to call their girlfriend child and baby was very common. Women would at the time would refer to their boyfriends as their old man. It was just how it was.
When I first heard this, I know it sounds creepy, and the thing about riding in a car, even back then you know, but it didn't really occur to us, that he was talking about luring anyone into a car, had the feeling he was talking about someone he knew, candy, well grown folks like candy too,..and "child", or baby, or girl,..I've dated grown men, who called me that, not cause I looked like a kid, now guys call us "shorty"?,...I've heard women call there husband daddy,..it's just a endearment,..affectionate,..I think our minds go there, because so much has happened, it's been going on, but we're more aware of it,..thanks for giving this a listen, it's a great song,..when I saw them, I couldn't believe the singer's voice, at the time this came out, he looked so young, on the radio, you know he sounded older,..Godspeed, Peace ✌
Drugs used to be called candy. Just like in the song "I want candy" from the 80s. ( can't remember who sings it) and I haven't heard this song in so long thanks for the reaction and the reminder
When I was 17, 16, 17...whatever, I had a 1963 Ford Fairlane 260 V8 with 3 on the tree. It was Black with red stripe down the sides. This song was just out and BAM! I WAS "The Friendly Stranger In The Black Sedan!" Remember y'all....this was a different time when there weren't so many freakish perverts.....
Mike K has the story below. I'll add that he HATED those first couple lines, but couldn't come up with an opener. One of the band members came up with those opening lines, and not having anything else, they went with it.
This was written about a girl he liked but he was afraid to ask out, so he asked her if she needed a ride home. Years later they got together and ended up together and married.
@@bustos1959 Turns out they did get married en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_(song)#:~:text=It%20was%20released%20as%20the,more%20than%20her%20%22vehicle%22.
@@himay333 No, it's right. Read it for yourself en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_(song)#:~:text=It%20was%20released%20as%20the,more%20than%20her%20%22vehicle%22.
It was back in the late 60's early 70's the word child was used to describe women ..... People hitchhiked all over the place so getting into strangers cars were common place ... My how times have changed.....
I know you all love some Boston. Check out Delp and Goudreau's Rockin' Away. Looking back on the history of Boston. Sadly, Brad took his own life shortly after this recording.
I dont live far from Peterick. Still does the whole rock star thing, purple hair and all. Also famous for writing "Eye of the Tiger" and a few .38 Special hits. Saw Ides on a fluke. Went to see Montrose..1979ish, Chicagofest, they canceled, Ides of March played. Ok, at that time I knew one song....this one.
I always assumed the guy in this song is singing about how he uses his car, which is probably a luxury sport sedan, to pick up women. It's just that his age range of what he thinks qualifies as a 'woman' is from high school age on up. Steely Dan has a song "Hey Nineteen" which has what I consider to be a similar theme.
Jim Peterik is a gifted song writer. I never realized this was him singing. I knew he was with Ides of March prior to Survivor. However, withe Survivor he was Keyboard and background vocals to Dave Bickler and the incomparable Jimi Jamison.
Personally, I like Peterik's lower, deeper tone and phrasing on "Eye of the Tiger". I love his first World Stage version of the song. It's a duet version of the song. I have a live, in concert CD, that the Ides of March released years ago. The Ides horn section on "Eye of the Tiger" actually really works for me. I also like "The Songs" versions of: "I Can't Hold Back", "Is This Love", "The Search is Over", "Hold On Loosely", and "Heavy Metal". I was more of a Jimi Jamison fan vs. Bickler. Bickler had sung backing vocals on some of Peterik's solo stuff. Survivor was supposed to have 2 lead singers, but, Peterik wasn't allowed to do any lead vocals after their first album. He did get to hear his singing in a Stallone movie, at least, when Stallone used "Vehicle" in the movie "Lock Up".
This song played on the radio when I was a kid and I never paid much attention to it. The lyrics are creepy, but back then stalking and harassing (AKA wearing her down) was a way to win over the girls. Noone talked about a lot of crimes against women (domestic abuse, child abuse, etc.. and of course the girl would get the blame for rape and such. I'm glad we are finally moving away from that shit.
Here we go......I'll splain! Times were way different in the 60/70's. It's mostly a metaphor about how the guy will do anything to win the womans love. Additional comments from others will splain further. To sum up, the song is not creepy at all.......................
Ok I saw look of disdain on Brad when the line "I want you, have to have you child" came on, I am sure he instantly thought child abuse. It is ok back then Child was a whole different meaning. It just meant that your lady was younger then you. It was slang. But I get it, as a soon new Papa, Brad was in Papa Bear mode already.
You can`t take every word of a song literally. "candy" is obviously a metaphor....sometimes the words don`t come to a writer, so they just make up stuff nobody will ever understand (but many will pretend to).
WOW, waited a while for them to cover this, thought they would love it. They took it totally wrong, kinda disappointed, not many songs I would try to interpret from a literal perspective, but hey, still a great song (if you don't try to make it creepy)... lol Still waiting to see the looks on their faces if they ever do - Prince "Gett Off" the official music video!!! PEACE!!!
