{{short description|Song performed by Straitjacket Fits}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox song | name = She Speeds | cover = | alt = | type = single | artist = Straitjacket Fits | album = Life in One Chord (EP) | released = 1987 | format = | recorded = Lab Studios, Auckland | studio = | venue = | genre = Alternative Rock, Dunedin sound | length = | label = Flying Nun Records | writer = Shayne Carter /Straitjacket Fits | producer = | chronology = Straitjacket Fits | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = | misc = {{External music video|1="[http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/she-speeds-1987 She Speeds]" at NZ on Screen}} }} '''''She Speeds''''' is a song by the Dunedin, New Zealand band Straitjacket Fits. The song was released on their debut 'Life in One Chord EP' in 1987. The EP was recorded at the Lab Studios in Auckland,<ref>[http://www.labstudio.co.nz/ Lab Studios]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Straitjacket-Fits-Life-In-One-Chord/release/586421|title = Straitjacket Fits – Life in One Chord (1987, Vinyl)| website=Discogs | date=January 1988 }}</ref> New Zealand, and reached number 10 on the NZ Top 40 charts later that year. A video was filmed for She Speeds for just $250 by Johnny Ogilvy<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/readytoroll/view.php?id=41 |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2010-12-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821125207/http://www.filmarchive.org.nz/readytoroll/view.php?id=41 |archivedate=2010-08-21 }}</ref> and the song quickly became a cornerstone of their live sets. The song would later be dropped from their sets as the band moved away from its early sound.
"She Speeds" was the last song played by the band at the Auckland Big Day Out in 1994. The band went on a semi-permanent hiatus after this show. At a show during their 2005 reunion tour, Shayne Carter humorously murmured 'Uh-oh suppose this had to happen'<ref name="NZ_Herald_10121920">{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10121920 |title=Straitjacket Fits at The Studio |author=Baillie, Russell |date=22 April 2005 |work=The New Zealand Herald |accessdate=9 November 2011}}</ref> before launching into the opening riff of the song.
"She Speeds" is number 9 on the APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time as voted by APRA members.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.apra.co.nz/apra-awards/new-zealand-music-hall-of-fame/straitjacket-fits.aspx |title=APRA|AMCOS : Straitjacket Fits |accessdate=2010-10-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722052408/http://www.apra.co.nz/apra-awards/new-zealand-music-hall-of-fame/straitjacket-fits.aspx |archivedate=2011-07-22 }}</ref>
Drummer John Collie said in 2008 that after listening to a live recording of their 2005 reunion tour, "She Speeds" along with "Dialling a Prayer" were still the best songs the band recorded during their career.<ref name="NZ_Herald_10535167">{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10535167 |title=The story of Straitjacket Fits |author=Kara, Scott |date=2 October 2008 |work=The New Zealand Herald |accessdate=9 November 2011}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/she-speeds-1987 Video of 'She Speeds'] *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NuejVMkOkA Tribute to Straitjacket Fits and She Speeds from the 2008 NZ Music Award]
==Further reading== {{cite book|last=Sweetman|first=Simon|title=On Song: Stories Behind New Zealand's Pop Classics|year=2012|publisher=Penguin Books|location=Auckland, New Zealand|isbn=9780143568162|pages=100–105}}
Category:APRA Award winners Category:Flying Nun Records singles Category:Straitjacket Fits songs