You Can't Catch Me
| "You Can't Catch Me" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Chuck Berry | ||||
| B-side | "Havana Moon" | |||
| Released | 1956 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Genre | Rock and roll | |||
| Label | Chess 1645 | |||
| Writer(s) | Chuck Berry | |||
| Chuck Berry singles chronology | ||||
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"You Can't Catch Me" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, released as a single in 1956. The song's lyrics mention racing a souped-up "air-mobile" down the New Jersey Turnpike. It was featured in the 1956 film Rock, Rock, Rock and was one of the four songs from the film that was included on the "soundtrack" album (the only one of his songs to be used both in the movie and on the album).
The lyrics refer to two previous hits by Berry, "Maybellene" and "Wee Wee Hours".
Cover versions
The Rolling Stones recorded a cover version of the song in 1965, as did John Lennon in 1975. Versions were also recorded by the Blues Project on their 1966 album Projections, and by Dave Edmunds' band Love Sculpture on their 1970 album Forms and Feelings. Florence Rawlings covered the song for her debut album, A Fool In Love, in 2009. George Thorogood and the Destroyers covered it on their album Born to Be Bad.
Berry's music publisher sued Lennon for copyright infringement because of the melodic similarity between "You Can't Catch Me" and the Beatles' 1969 song "Come Together", written by Lennon, and because the Beatles' song used some of the lyrics of Berry's song ("here come old flat-top"). The suit was settled out of court. As part of the settlement, Lennon included a rendition of "You Can't Catch Me" on his 1975 album of cover versions, Rock 'n' Roll.
References
Bruce Springsteen referenced the lyric "New Jersey turnpike in the wee, wee hours" twice on his album Nebraska.