Coupe de Ville

Album: The Note's For You (1988)
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Songfacts®:

  • Cadillac introduced the first Coupe de Ville in 1949, boasting a two-door coupe style, leather interior, and a pillar-less hard-top. Offered at $3,497 - considered expensive for the time - it was one of Cadillac's most popular models, and by 1961 the company was selling over 20,000 of the vehicles annually.
  • This song talks about lost love, something Neil Young has much experience with. The song contrasts Young's love for his Coupe de Ville with his longing for a lost lover, drawing attention to how material possessions, no matter how nice, never really end up fulfilling you. "If I can't have you," he wails on the chorus, "I don't want nothin' else."
  • This song was included on the album Young produced with his new band, The Blue Notes. This caught the attention of musician Harold Melvin, who owned the rights to the "Blue Notes" name. While Young was on tour with his new band, Melvin sued him over the name rights and won. Young was forced to re-name his band "Ten Men Workin'" for the remainder of the tour.

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