‘Drive’ is a song by American rock band The Cars from their fifth studio album, Heartbeat City (1984). It was released on July 23, 1984, as the album's third single. Upon its release, ‘Drive’ became the Cars' highest-charting single in most territories. In the United States, it peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Adult Contemporary chart. It reached number 5 (number four on re-entry in 1985) in the UK, number 4 in West Germany, number 6 in Canada and number 3 (number five on re-entry in 1985) in Ireland.
Written by Ric Ocasek, the track was sung by bassist Benjamin Orr and produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange with the band. The music video was directed by actor Timothy Hutton and features then-19-year-old model and actress Paulina Porizkova, who would later become Ric Ocasek's third wife.
The song is most associated with the July 1985 Live Aid event, where it was performed by Benjamin Orr during the Philadelphia event; the song was also used as the background music to a montage of clips depicting the contemporaneous Ethiopian famine during the London event, which was introduced by David Bowie. Following the concert, it re-entered the UK Singles Chart and peaked at number 4 in August 1985. Proceeds from the sales of the re-released song raised nearly £160,000 for the Band Aid Trust.
Songwriter – Ric Ocasek
Producers – Robert John "Mutt" Lange, The Cars
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Who's gonna tell you when it's too late?
Who's gonna tell you things aren't so great?
[Chorus]
You can't go on, thinking nothing's wrong, but now
Who's gonna drive you home tonight?
[Verse 2]
Who's gonna pick you up when you fall?
Who's gonna hang it up when you call?
Who's gonna pay attention to your dreams?
Yeah, who's gonna plug their ears when you scream?
[Chorus]
You can't go on, thinking nothing's wrong, but now
Who's gonna drive you home tonight?
[Verse 3]
Who's gonna hold you down when you shake?
Who's gonna come around when you break?
[Chorus]
You can't go on, thinking nothing's wrong, but now
Who's gonna drive you home tonight?
Oh, you know you can't go on thinking nothing's wrong
Who's gonna drive you home tonight?