The History Of The Ford Deuce Coupe And A Very Misheard Lyric

There's no shortage of tales in pop music history that have made listeners go "wait, what?" — either due to a cultural no-no or the singer simply being misheard. On the more hilarious end of the pop culture spectrum, sometimes bizarre instances are simply a matter of dialectical differences. "Blinded By the Light" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Double Mann — or Dub-Mann, for short — sang of a Ford Deuce Coupe, but listeners to this day giggle over the fact that it sounds like he says something completely different and inappropriate.

In case you didn't know, "Blinded By the Light" was originally written and performed by Bruce Springsteen on his debut record, Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. Let's tune our FM radios to our local classic rock station and discuss what the Ford Deuce Coupe is, why it made the song, and the reasoning behind a very misheard lyric.

"Deuce Coupe" is a shorthand for a 1932 Ford Model 18 Coupe. Available in many different styles, including a 3-window and a 5-window coupe, this '32 Ford was among the first American cars to feature a V8 engine. The little bad Deuce took hotrod culture by storm back in the day, helping America fall in love with the V8 engine. In fact, it's so beloved that a Deuce is now the name for one of the most iconic hot rod styles that every gearhead should know. Its popularity throughout the '40s and '50s was due not only to its overall affordability, but also to the surprisingly capable and tunable flathead V8 under its hood. Still, featuring a side-valve head design, it wasn't as efficient or potent as the overhead-valve Chevy small block, which led many hotrodders to drop bowtie mills into their Deuces after the late '50s.

A particular high point in Deuceania was in 1963, when The Beach Boys' "Little Deuce Coupe" reminded folks that these things can haul ass. This history is undoubtedly why one particular example that was "a cross between piss yellow and puke green" is a main character in George Lucas' 1973 film "American Graffiti" — a favorite piece of automotive media among Jalopnik's readership – and also why Springsteen mentioned it in its hit, which incidentally debuted that same year.

The lyrics in question in Mann's "Blinded By the Light" are "revved up like a Deuce," but it sounds like the South African says "wrapped up like a d*uche." Jalopnik's censorship unfortunately disallows fully typing it out, but the word is common parlance for a feminine hygiene product that most doctors consider inadvisable.

The reason why it sounds like Dub-Mann is gleefully singing about a feminine hygiene product is, according to Roger Schlueter of Southern Illinois' Belleville News-Democrat, because of his pronunciation. "Unfortunately, his pronunciation was so bad that the 'v' sound in 'revved' was unintelligible, so many guessed 'wrapped.' Making matters worse, his lisp turned the 's' sound in deuce to 'sh.'"

Also, there's the matter of Mann changing Springsteen's lyrics from "cut loose like a Deuce" to "revved up like a deuce." Hilariously, as reported by Far Out Magazine, Mann himself reflected on it to Record Collector Magazine in 2006. "Apparently, Springsteen thought we'd done it deliberately, which we hadn't, so if I ever saw him, I'd avoid him and cringe away like a frightened little boy." 

Despite all this, "Blinded By the Light" was a hit song, topping the Billboard Top 100 for a week in February 1977. Possibly due to human civilization's giggles, and possibly because it's a catchy tune — considering how overplayed it is on classic rock radio, probably both.