Primus - Lee Van Cleef - Vinyl rip - 32 bit 96 kHz Technics SL-D2 - Ortofon Night Club -
Bassist/vocalist Les Claypool came up with this song's riff whilst noodling around at home. He told MusicRadar: "I had that sitting around for a while. If I'm home and I come up with something, I'll try to record it, but a lot of the time I'll forget to. A lot of things go off into space and never come back 'cause I just don't remember them. Lee Van Cleef stuck around. I came up with it on my dobro bass and really liked it, so I recorded it."
Lee Van Cleef (1925 – 1989) was an American film actor who is best known for his roles in spaghetti westerns, particularly Sergio Leone's For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Van Cleef's sharp features led to him being cast as a villain in other films such as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Claypool told Rolling Stone the song is "reflective of my youth."
The album title is lifted from a line in this song: "A yellow Studebaker with a 302/With a seat of Green Naugahyde." It refers to a form of plastic leather used for seats. Claypool explained to Artist Direct: "That was my father's pickup truck when I was a kid. Years later, I actually ran that pickup truck into the side of a liquor store because the driver's door flew open as I was making a right turn ... The ol' Studebaker is no longer with us, but there were a lot of fond memories in that vehicle. I come from a long line of auto mechanics, and naugahyde was what people had on their couches because they couldn't afford leather. The circles I ran in, we saw a lot of naugahyde, the '70s working-class leather."
Lyrics:
Got a badge, a Red Rider at Rocket Camp out at Nohack Peak
Lookin' for jailbirds left and right gotta knock 'em up out the tree
Everybody I know's watchin' Clint, we all like watchin' Clint
Hi Hi Hi Hi
All the li'l Snaps wanna be like Clint; they all wanna be like Clint
But I wanna be like Lee Van Cleef; ya know I wanna be like Lee
Whatever happened to Lee Van Cleef; whatever happened to Lee?
A yellow Studebaker with a 302, I see the green Naugahyde
He put a coupla dings in that pick-up truck, a few more dents in his pride
At Hilltop Drive-In they're watchin' Clint; they all like watchin' Clint
Hi Hi Hi Hi
All the babies scream they wanna see ol' Clint; they all wanna see ol' Clint
But I wanna see Lee Van Cleef; ya know I'd like to see ol' Lee
Whatever happened to Lee Van Cleef; whatever happened to Lee?
Now the Studebaker's gone, Lee's passed on, Clint's still sharp as can be
Hilltop Drive-In is an Auto Mall, but no one's built over Lee
He'll get a kick outta watchin' Clint, we all get a kick outta Clint
Hi Hi Hi Hi
But Lee never been none quite like Clint, there's really only one Clint
But I really did like Lee Van Cleef; I sure did really like Lee
Whatever happened to Lee Van Cleef; whatever happened to Lee?
We still get a kick outta watchin' Clint; we all get a kick outta Clint
Hi Hi Hi Hi
There ain't never been one quite like Clint, there's really only one Clint
I always did like Lee Van Cleef; always did like Lee
Nobody's steely like Lee Van Cleef. Whatever happened to Lee?
Whatever happened to Lee Van Cleef? Don't forget about Lee.