It’s not a big surprise to feel your temperature rise
You’ve got a touch of redline fever
‘Cause there is just one cure that we know for sure
You just become a heavy metal believer…

This is a song about a freakin’ car, and it rules. And I can’t stand The Eagles anymore, but hot damn if Don Felder (with a little help from former banddmates Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmidt) didn’t knock it out of the park with Heavy Metal (Takin’ A Ride).

This song screams 1981 FM rock radio, and that’s probably as good a compliment as I can give, most days. Taken from the soundtrack from the buttkickin’ animated movie “Heavy Metal”, the track is moody, mysterious, evocative of a thrilling nighttime journey into the dark unknown. Plus it conjures up plenty of images from the movie itself which, if you haven’t seen it, go check it out now. It’s totally dated and often ridiculously cheeseball, but it’s damn awesome.

And yes, it’s ostensibly a song about a car… or is it? As the lyrics tell us, Heavy Metal is the only way to travel down that road. Make of that what you will. Or just put the top down in the dark California desert sky, floor the gas pedal, and explode into the cosmos. Ride it until you explode…