Music in a car ad

October 27, 2005 7:35 AM

Another music from advertisements question...possibly Bob Dylan.

The question below about the Weatheman commercial reminded me that I've been irritated that I can't identify the song in one of the latest car commercials. Unfortunately I can't remember which car, but the song is a simple acoustic guitar and voice accompaniement and the singer is either Bob Dylan or someone trying VERY hard to be Bob Dylan. The one notable lyric goes something like "...blah blah blah to something against the wind". Yeah, it's vague..sorry. I've gone through my entrie Dylan collection and can't find it. Anyone have any idea? This is a U.S. commercial.

posted by spicynuts to media & arts (20 comments total)

Dust in the Wind, by Kansas. Does the commercial have cars rotting and turning to dust?
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:41 AM on October 27, 2005

I doubt it's Dylan just because there's a huge uproar amongst Dylanologists whenever one of his tunes turns up in an advert, i.e. the BMO thing in the late '90s or the Victoria Secret thingy.
posted by docgonzo at 7:42 AM on October 27, 2005

Is it Bob Seger's Against the Wind? It's very likely, since he's been a car shill for years. For the record, he's not really trying to sound like Dylan. It's a basic late-70s country rock style. He was extremely popular.
posted by Miko at 7:45 AM on October 27, 2005

Dust in the Wind, by Kansas. Does the commercial have cars rotting and turning to dust?

Do you honestly think I wouldn't recognize the song Dust In The Wind? I mean, I guess you could assume I'm 16 or 17 and thus all that old timey shit wouldn't have filtered down to me, but indeed, I think I even have MORE THAN ONE Kansas album stashed away in my parents' house somewhere.
posted by spicynuts at 7:47 AM on October 27, 2005

I believe you're refering to the Volvo ad with the Donovan song Catch the Wind. I thought it was Dylan for a while too...
posted by hwickline at 7:48 AM on October 27, 2005

If I remember correctly, the car commercial with the cars rotting and turning to dust uses Dust in the Wind, but not Kansas's version.
posted by danb at 7:49 AM on October 27, 2005

Is it Bob Seger's Against the Wind?

Miko, see my post above about Kansas. People, give me some credit here, man.

doubt it's Dylan just because there's a huge uproar amongst Dylanologists whenever one of his tunes turns up in an advert, i.e. the BMO thing in the late '90s or the Victoria Secret thingy.

Those uproars don't seem to stop him, though. I'm nearly convinced it's Dylan.
posted by spicynuts at 7:49 AM on October 27, 2005

Dust in the Wind has been stuck in my head for two weeks. I can think of little else.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:49 AM on October 27, 2005

i think the comerical he is refering to is the volvo commercial, where rain drops are putting the cars back from a crashed state.if that helps.
and i assumed it was Dylan too
posted by ShawnString at 7:50 AM on October 27, 2005

I believe you're refering to the Volvo ad with the Donovan song Catch the Wind. I thought it was Dylan for a while too...

BINGO!!! Thanks, kid. Funny, I was just watching Don't Look Back and thinking to myself, damn, that Donovan sounds a lot like Dylan.
posted by spicynuts at 7:50 AM on October 27, 2005

Whoops -- then it is probably Donovan's 'Catch the Wind'. I remember overhearing that on a TV commercial recently. He definitely was trying to sound like Dylan.

And you'll have to forgive the assumption that you're young if you didn't recognize it...
posted by Miko at 7:51 AM on October 27, 2005

And you'll have to forgive the assumption that you're young if you didn't recognize it...

Forgiven..however, Donovan, at least where I grew up (Poughkeepsie, NY) was not on the classic rock radar. Never even knew he existed until that Nicole Kidman movie where she plays a weather reporter and at the end they play Season of the Witch.
posted by spicynuts at 7:55 AM on October 27, 2005

Funny, I guessed the commercial and the song from just "possibly Bob Dylan" on the front page. I had seen the commerical several times and wondered about the Dylan song, so I googled what I could catch of the lyrics and discovered it was Donovan.

After I figured it out I was hoping somebody would post a question about it on AskMe so I could show off my new-found knowledge... but somebody beat me to it.
posted by soiled cowboy at 8:01 AM on October 27, 2005

Amusingly, here's what Wikipedia says about Donovan:

Donovan began writing original material in the early 1960s and by late 1964 he had settled in London and signed a management and publishing contract. He recorded a ten-track demo tape, which included the original recording of his first single, "Catch The Wind", a song that showed the unmistakable influence of Woody Guthrie and Ramblin' Jack Elliott who had also influenced Bob Dylan. Although Dylan comparisons followed him for some time, the tape also made it clear that he was already a performer of considerable skill and originality

His earliest recordings feature some extremely traditional renditions of classic folk songs. His version of "Blind Fiddler" is actually one of the better I've ever heard recorded, and he recorded other songs like "Remember the Alamo" and "Ramblin' Boy". He left the folk thing behind very quickly, though, and is best known now for pop psychedelia like "Sunshine Superman" and "Mellow Yellow." But at the beginning of his career he was very stripped-down and folky.
posted by Miko at 8:09 AM on October 27, 2005

If I remember correctly, the car commercial with the cars rotting and turning to dust uses Dust in the Wind, but not Kansas's version.

I'm pretty sure it's the real deal.
posted by kindall at 9:17 AM on October 27, 2005

Do you honestly think I wouldn't recognize the song Dust In The Wind?

Dude, you thought Donovan was Dylan.
posted by dobbs at 9:28 AM on October 27, 2005

,best known now for pop psychedelia like "Sunshine Superman" and "Mellow Yellow."

This is why I love his appearance in Don't Look Back. It's fun looking at this gap tooth kid who has a bewildered look on his face in the light of all the attention from Dylan and imagining that kid singing Mello Yello down the road. Speaking of which, do they still make the Mello Yello soda?
posted by spicynuts at 9:30 AM on October 27, 2005

Yeah, that's my favorite part of Don't Look Back as well. It really shows why comparing people to Dylan is so dangerous.
posted by allen.spaulding at 10:38 AM on October 27, 2005

Dust in the Wind has been stuck in my head for two weeks. I can think of little else.

There's one cure for this. Ahem.

CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SON...

You can take it from there.

Speaking of which, do they still make the Mello Yello soda?

It's pretty easy to find here in the lower part of Michigan.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 12:02 PM on October 27, 2005

>that Donovan sounds a lot like Dylan.

Whaaa?

Never did. Worlds apart.
posted by megatherium at 6:59 PM on October 27, 2005