Kenickie, a member of the greaser gang at the center of the musical, has purchased a used car with the savings from his summer job, giving it the nickname "Greased Lightnin'." While the other greasers are skeptical of the car because it is in such poor shape, he is able to win them over with a rousing rock and roll number describing the modifications needed to transform it into a hot rod capable of arousing the ladies. The lyrics portray Kenickie as more of a dreamer or even poseur than a real gearhead because some of the features he describes are mutually exclusive with others: a car with an "automatic... Hydramatic" transmission therefore could not have "a four speed on the floor" i.e. manual transmission, and "four-barrel quads" are carburetors inconsistent with true "Fuel injection cut off". Both the musical and the film imply that at least some of the parts Kenickie uses are stolen. In the original recording, as was in the case with the stage musical on which it was based, several unairable profanities of a sexual nature are peppered throughout the lyrics, which deterred a number of stations from playing the song and possibly prevented it from reaching the top 40 in the United States. It was one of the few songs from the original Chicago-centric version of Grease to transition, uncut, from Chicago to Broadway and to film. Jim Jacobs later released a revised set of lyrics suitable for school performances that remove the sexual references, and most televised edits of the film cut the offending lyrics. In the original musical, the song is Kenickie's featured number, with the other greasers serving as his backup singers. The film expands upon the car's purpose. Whereas the stage musical gives no particular reason for Kenickie's desire to build the car, the film explains that the greasers' rivals, named the Scorpions in the film, had challenged them to a quarter-mile drag race, requiring them to have a competitive car for the duel. With Danny at the helm, Greased Lightnin' wins the race. The film is also notable for having Danny sing lead on the song, while Kenickie contributed with a few call-and-response lines. In keeping with the musical's tendency to use styles of music popular in the late 1950s, the song "Greased Lightnin'" is in a slightly modified twelve-bar blues form, and is inspired on the 1959 single White Lightning by the Big Bopper.
Charts
Critical reception
STL Today described the song as "a number saluting a hot rod and all the joy it promises".
Other recordings
In the film version of Grease, the song was recorded by John Travolta. An earlier version was recorded in 1972 by The Wild Angels. The song was covered by Lance Ellington in the animated filmPlanet 51. Irish pop bandWestlife had a recorded cover of the song in 2003. The film version of the song has a different intro compared to the album version on which John says "Why this car could be systematic, hydromatic, ultramatic. Why it could be Greased Lightnin'." Where in the album version the intro says "Why this car is automatic, systematic, hydromatic. Why it's Greased Lightnin'." The word 'hydromatic' has more expression.
