This is one of those songs from the cusp of the 1960s/1970s.

The Ides Of March never made much of an impact in the UK where Vehicle was only a minor hit. The song’s composer, Jim Peterik, later became a member of Survivor, though, and co-wrote Eye Of The Tiger, which ever since the film Rocky III has been the obligatory music to accompany anything at all to do with boxing.

I liked Vehicle‘s blending of brass and rock. As I recall, Blood, Sweat And Tears and Chicago (Transit Authority) were mining a similar vein around that time.

The song has an undertone of menace (“I’€™m the friendly stranger in the black sedan/Won’€™t you step inside my car?”) but had a more innocent genesis. Peterik wrote it about an old girlfriend who wasn’t that into him but used him as a taxi service. I vaguely remember reading, though, that after being apart for a while the pair later married.

The Ides Of March: Vehicle