Tonight She Comes


"Tonight She Comes" is a 1985 song by American rock band the Cars, from their Greatest Hits album. It was released as a single in October 1985, reaching number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1986. The song reached number 1 on the Top Rock Tracks charts, where it stayed for three weeks.

Background

"Tonight She Comes" was written by Cars singer and guitarist Ric Ocasek, who had originally intended to save the song for his solo career, however the song was instead recorded as a stand alone single. Ocasek recalled, "I was in the middle of recording my solo album and it was one of the songs I didn't use in the solo album at that point. That was like a one-off single that we just all came together and did."

Composition

It is a straightforward, diatonic song in F major, with a guitar solo by Cars guitarist Elliot Easton. The solo was transcribed by Steve Vai in the issue of the magazine Guitar Player in February 1986, as the centerpiece to an interview with Easton.
In the interview, Easton described the custom made Kramer guitar used for the solo, and said the reason the solo was "so dense" was due to the four weeks spent recording the single, which allowed Easton ample time to compose it. The title of the song is yet another Ric Ocasek double entendre, although as Easton said, "It doesn't actually say that she reaches orgasm. It could mean that tonight she's coming over to make popcorn."

Release and reception

"Tonight She Comes" was the Cars' fourth Top 10 hit. It was the first of two songs to be released as a single from their album of Greatest Hits. A remixed version of "I'm Not the One", previously recorded in 1981 for the album Shake It Up, was the second.
AllMusic critic Greg Prato, in his review of Greatest Hits described the track as "playful", while Tim Sendra, also of AllMusic, said in his review of The Essentials that the track, was "definitely essential". Critic Donald Guarisco said the song "is one of their most straightforward pop outings and shows just how far they had moved from the acidic mindset of 'Just What I Needed' and "Let's Go.
He went on to say that the track was "a delightful, pristine pop confection".

Chart performance

Weekly Charts

Year End Charts