Bye Bye Love (The Cars song)
"Bye Bye Love" | |
---|---|
Song by the Cars | |
from the album The Cars | |
Released | June 6, 1978 |
Genre | New wave[1] |
Length | 4:14 |
Label | Elektra |
Songwriter(s) | Ric Ocasek |
Producer(s) | Roy Thomas Baker |
The Cars track listing | |
9 tracks
|
"Bye Bye Love" is a song by the American Boston-based rock band the Cars. The song appears on the band's 1978 eponymous debut album. It was written by singer/songwriter/bandleader Ric Ocasek and sung by bassist Benjamin Orr.
Background
"Bye Bye Love" is one of The Cars' oldest songs, dating back to the mid 1970s. The song was first performed, and recorded as a demo, by the band Cap'n Swing, which featured Ocasek, Orr, and guitarist Elliot Easton as members. In this early version, the recurring keyboard theme between the verse lyrics was significantly different.
The song was later revived to appear on The Cars in 1978. Although the song was not released as a single, it has received regular airplay since the album was released.[2][3]
Reception
Rolling Stone critic Kit Rachlis said in his review of The Cars that "the songs bristle and -- in their harsher, more angular moments ('Bye Bye Love,' 'Don't Cha Stop') -- bray."[4] Jaime Welton, author of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, described the track as a "fan favorite", praising Elliot Easton as an "unsung hero, littering songs like 'Bye Bye Love' with staggeringly good fills."[4] AllMusic critic Greg Prato called it one of the "lesser-known compositions [that] are just as exhilarating" as the "familiar hits" on The Cars.[3]
Other appearances
- "Bye Bye Love" was covered by the New Jersey band Spiraling on the 2005 tribute album Substitution Mass Confusion: A Tribute to The Cars. The title of the album originated as a lyric from the song.
- "Bye Bye Love" was also covered by Chicago-based punk band Alkaline Trio and released on the Alkaline Trio / Blue Meanies split single in 2000.
- "Bye Bye Love" was also covered by New Jersey based band Jaded Past and released in August of 2020.
- It was featured in a 2010 episode of Big Love, "The Sins of the Father".
- It was also featured in a scene of the 2011 film Super 8.
- "Bye Bye Love" was covered in 2019 on the Jim Crean album Gotcha Covered.
References
- ^ Cateforis, Theo (2011). Are We Not New Wave? : Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s (PDF). University of Michigan Press. p. 163. ISBN 0-472-03470-7.
- ^ Monger, James Christopher. "The Lace - Benjamin Orr". AllMusic. Retrieved February 19, 2011.
- ^ a b Prato, Greg. "The Cars". allmusic.com.
- ^ a b "'The Cars' reviews". www.superseventies.com.