Even Bob Lutz Hates "The Volt Song"

The first time we posted the video for They Might Be Giants’ song “Electric Car,” TTAC commentator rollosrevenge noted:

I love EVs and am pretty fond of They Might be Giants, but that was the one of the most annoying songs accompanied by the one of the stupidest music videos ever. It belongs as the theme song/video for the Volt.

And guess what? If Bob “Chrome” Lutz had his way, it could have been.

Greencarreports.com explains

former marketing chief Bob Lutz wanted to license the song “Electric Car,” by whimsical rock group They Might Be Giants.

Lutz passed the song along to Chevrolet Marketing, the folks who are now responsible for promoting the 2011 Volt to target buyers and the public at large. What happened?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

He wasn’t overruled; we heard he was simply ignored. Chevrolet Marketing seemingly felt it could do better. Just like at the old GM, the one that went bankrupt, where everything generated inside the company was by definition better than anything from outside.

Like “Electric Car,” which is is off of TMBG’s third educational album “ Here Comes Science,” the Volt song and accompanying dance number that GM commissioned to promote the Volt was aimed at children. Still, rhyming “adventure” with “pressure” and “it’s so simple like a dimple, plug it in and see” is insulting to the intelligence of children of any age. Besides, telling kids the Volt “could make a cleaner world, the greener car that powers itself” and “charge the car right in your home, it costs next to nothing, it’s cheaper than your phone” isn’t educational, it’s just irresponsible. In contrast “Electric Car” captures the ambivalence towards alternative-energy powertrains perfectly with the line “electric car, so good so far.” Lutz was right about this one.