Song Lyric Sunday – Little Deuce Coupe

Jim Adams says pick a number, any number so I did. I choose 2 please!

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Why not deuce, 2, as in a 1932 Ford coupe purchased by Clarence “Chili” Catallo for a mere $75. This car would become a consistent winner on the hot rod and show rod circuit in California and eventually end up on the cover of The Beach Boys 1963 album “Little Deuce Coupe”.

To read more about the history of the car itself, read “Little Deuce Coupe: Profile of a Hotrod” on auto.howstuffworks.com.

The song was written by Brian Wilson and Roger Christian released on the B side of the 1963 release of “Surfer Girl”. This whisks me back to the time surfer music gave a young girl growing up inland on the east coast a fantastical image of life in faraway California. The song would become The Beach Boys most popular B side hit reaching #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Roger Christian was a California DJ who was very into cars and was able to help lend authenticity to the surfer/hot rod culture songs that would become The Beach Boys’ hallmark style.

Little Deuce Coupe
Lyrics from songfacts.com

Little deuce coupe
You don’t know what I got
Little deuce coupe
You don’t know what I got

Well I’m not braggin’ babe so don’t put me down
But I’ve got the fastest set of wheels in town
When something comes up to me he don’t even try
‘Cause if I had a set of wings man I know she could fly
She’s my little deuce coupe
You don’t know what I got
(My little deuce coupe)
(You don’t know what I got)

Just a little deuce coupe with a flat head mill
But she’ll walk a Thunderbird like (she’s) it’s standin’s ’till
She’s ported and relieved and she’s stroked and bored.
She’ll do a hundred and forty with the top end floored
She’s my little deuce coupe
You don’t know what I got
(My little deuce coupe)
(You don’t know what I got)

She’s got a competition clutch with the four on the floor
And she purrs like a kitten ’till the lake pipes roar
And if that ain’t enough to make you flip your lid
There’s one more thing, I got the pink slip daddy

And comin’ off the line when the light turns green
Well she blows ’em outta the water like you never seen
I get pushed out of shape and it’s hard to steer
When I get rubber in all four gears

She’s my little deuce coupe
You don’t know what I got
(My little deuce coupe)
(You don’t know what I got)
She’s my little deuce coupe
You don’t know what I got
(My little deuce coupe)
(You don’t know what I got)
She’s my little deuce coupe
You don’t know what I got

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Song Lyric Sunday May 17, 2020.