There I was driving along with my iPod set to shuffle, when “Chevy Van” came on. It made me think of the very excellent book Get In The Van that Henry Rollins wrote about being on tour with Black Flag. I thought about doing a post with songs about being on tour but that would eliminate “Chevy Van.” I then realized that there are surprisingly few cover songs about Chevy vans or about vans in general. So instead I decided to go with a collection of songs loosely related by the word “van.”

The Jimmies “Chevy Van” (Sammy Johns)
I used to really like this song in those preadolescent days when I listened to Top 40 radio. The words apparently never sank in since it’s a song about picking up a hitchhiker, screwing her in the back of your van, and kicking her out in some anonymous small town. Not the sort of thing that has a lot of appeal to the tween crowd. I guess I just liked the inoffensive melody. The song does a nice job of capturing the vibe of that carefree pre-AIDS time of casual sex and cheap gas.

Now I’ve gone and made myself nostalgic for an era I never experienced.

Mary Lou Lord “Jump” (Van Halen)
As if Van Halen wasn’t bad enough already, they had to add a cheesy keyboard to this song. Because they knew they could make it even more awful. In a way I almost admire them for it. Fortunately there is nary a keyboard to be found on this nice acoustic version.

Camper Van Beethoven “I’m Not Like Everybody Else” (The Kinks)
According to the liner notes the guys in CVB learned this song from a Chocolate Watchband album. So it’s a cover of a cover. Most of the time that sort of thing doesn’t work too well. The good news is these guys are all great musicians who cast a wide musical net so they were able to do something interesting with the song.

Bran Van 3000 “Cum On Feel The Noize” (Slade)
No, Quiet Riot didn’t write this song. Despite the popularity of their version it’s a pretty terrible cover. It was all shtick and had none of the drunken goofiness of the original. This cover goes in a completely different direction, it’s sort of a bubblegum song backed by distorted guitars.

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova “Into The Mystic” (Van Morrison)
Van Morrison’s appeal has largely eluded me over the years but I’ve got to say that this a lovely song with absolutely beautiful harmonies. Glen Hansard used to play at the Hideout before he won an Oscar and got all famous.