Carjack Fever [original version]
Recorded 1995
Release history
- Fuel: A Compilation (1997)
- Unreleased Stuff [CD-R] (2001)
- KJV Bonus Material (2025)
Alternate version of
Credits
- Aaron: bass
- Jeff: guitars
- Sean: lead vocal, harmonies
- Evan: drums
- Recorded, mixed by David Dubh Black at Private Radio (Seattle, WA)
Lyrics
There’s a bright white light
To shine on all the dim bulbs in the crowd tonight
And there’s a thin yellow line to separate the fast lane
And there’s a man I know
He’ll take apart your engine if you ask him right
Let’s fire all the publicists and leave L.A. in flames
Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey oh
Hey hey hey hey hey hey oh
Hey hey hey hey
You don’t need a passport
To know what state you’re in
She wore barrettes of many colors in her many-colored hair
It doesn’t matter, they don’t notice what you wear
It’s getting old now, there’s dissension in the ranks
The fish are growing legs and walking out of their tanks
Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey oh
Hey hey hey hey hey hey oh
Hey hey hey hey
You don’t need a passport
To know what state you’re in
You are an ill wind and you blow no good
Santa Ana Winds, a hundred-acre wood
Earthquake survivors, swearing youngsters smoking tea
Spit in your hands and you can splinter every tree
Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey oh
Hey hey hey hey hey hey oh
Hey hey hey hey
You don’t need a passport
To know what state you’re in, you’re in
Quotes
Jeff: This is the original version of Carjack Version [sic] which was recorded in either '94 or '95. It's the only publicly available recording that wasn't done with John Goodmanson.CDR
Evan: The first "Carjack Fever" made me dance in the rain outside our house. It started life as a slow and stately thing whose chorus was, "Hey hey hey hey hey hey heyayayy..." and it made me glad to be alive, and I jumped up and down on the sidewalk and sang my joy to all Ravenna.10A
Sean: This was one of three songs we brought to the first weekend session we did with John Goodmanson. The others were Private Helicopter and Terminal Annex. Why did this one not make the record while the others did? It just didn't feel finished. I was (and remain) unconvinced by those hey hey hey heys, especially since I was also on the fence about "you don't need a passport," etc. Still, there was something powerful about the song, right from the first time we played it. Probably it was because we all wanted to be able to get our hands around the challenge of playing slow and stately songs. This was the first time we came close, but not quite. (And technically it did appear on Merrymakers, but only backwards, in the long "hidden" section at the very end of Radio Silence.)25B
Notes
- Originally released on the Arena Rock compilation Fuel to accompany a cross-country touring exhibition of independent films.
- The Unreleased Stuff liner notes date this to “either ’94 or ’95”, while pre-KJV versions of the band's website state “sometime in 1995.”