2016 single by Maren Morris
"80s Mercedes" is a song recorded by American country music singer Maren Morris.[2] It was released in June 2016 as her second single. She co-wrote and co-produced the song with busbee during a session where they traded ideas about its title and the numerous influences from that era. "80s Mercedes" peaked at numbers 11 and 12 on both the Billboard Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts respectively. Also, it reached number 74 on the Hot 100. The song was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold 236,000 units in the United States as of January 2017. It also charted in Canada, peaking at number 17 on the Canada Country chart. It received a Gold certification from Music Canada, denoting sales of 40,000 units in that country. The accompanying music video for the song was directed by Alon Isocianu.
Background
According to Morris, the inspiration for the song came from a conversation with Audra Mae, who used the phrase "80s Mercedes" in their conversation and she thought it would be a good title for a song. She mentioned the idea to Busbee at their song-writing session, and Busbee started asking Morris questions for possible directions on the writing. One of those questions was: "What year were you born?". Morris answered 1990, and Busbee then came out with the line: "I'm a '90s baby in my '80s Mercedes" which became the hook for the song. The song has some influences from 1980s songs, and contains an oblique reference to Don Henley's song "The Boys of Summer".[3]
Music video
The music video was directed by Alon Isocianu and premiered in August 2016. The vehicle featured was a 1980s era Mercedes Benz 380 SL.[4]
Critical reception
"80s Mercedes" was placed at number 38 on Rolling Stone’s "50 Best Songs of 2016", stating: “The Nashville breakout star is writing cooler car songs than anyone else these days – she's a "Nineties baby in an Eighties Mercedes," blasting Hank Williams and Johnny Cash on her radio.”[5]
Accolades
