WCSX Classic Cuts
The Cars: “My Best Friend’s Girl”
The Hook: Ric Ocasek says he wrote the lyrics with Cars bassist Ben Orr in mind because they’d been working together for so long.
Album: The Cars
Year: 1978
Writer: Ric Ocasek
Stats: Peaked at number-35 on the Billboard Hot 100
Background: Cars lead guitarist Elliot Easton has said that his part on “My Best Friend’s Girl” was inspired by a mixture of George Harrison’s work on The Beatles’ “I Will” and the sound of country guitar legend Chet Atkins. Singer and rhythm guitarist Ric Ocasek explains that he had a couple of different inspirations when he wrote the song.
Ric Ocasek of The Cars on “My Best Friend’s Girl.” OC:…I thought. :19
“That’s just kind of a little, like, ’50s riff. I thought that was a bit like a Carl Perkins song. I was just kind of into a ’50s mode on that one, at least I thought I was. And the theme, I don’t know where that came from. I was almost kind of like singing it to Ben [Orr], y’know, ’cause I’d been playing with him for so long and it was just kind of a funny little theme, I thought.”