Considered to be one of the first hits of the new wave era, Gary Numan’s debut single “Cars” was released August 21st, 1979. The song was a huge hit on MTV and reached the top of the charts in the UK and Canada. The track is from his debut studio album, The Pleasure Principle.
According to Numan, the song's lyrics were inspired by an incident of road rage: “I was in traffic in London once and had a problem with some people in front. They tried to beat me up and get me out of the car. I locked the doors and eventually drove up on the pavement and got away from them. It's kind of to do with that. It explains how you can feel safe inside a car in the modern world... When you're in it, your whole mentality is different... It's like your own little personal empire with four wheels on it.”
