This song is about a girl who lives a wild life in her brand new
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car. The singer warns her that she needs to slow down.
According to Rolling Stone magazine's Top 500 Songs, "

nearly ended up on the studio floor - literally. After

finished his final take at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the tape suddenly flew off the reel and broke into pieces. But the session engineer, the legendary Tom Dowd, calmly cleared the room and told everyone to come back in half an hour. Dowd pieced the tape back together and saved what became one of the funkiest soul anthems of the '60s." (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England)
This was written by Bonny Rice, also known as Sir Mack Rice. Bonny started singing with the Five Scalders in 1955 and joined The Falcons in 1957, remaining with them until 1963. Eddie Floyd was also in The Falcons, and Mack later wrote songs for him when he went solo. In 1962,

joined The Falcons and sang lead on their hit "I Found A Love."
In May of 1965 Bonny Rice released his original version of this song as Sir Mack Rice, and it hit the R&B charts, peaking at #15. Wilson Pickett would take it to the R&B and Pop charts a year and a half later. Mack Rice later sang with Ollie and the Nightingales, joining them in 1970. (thanks, Danny - Rochester, NY, for above 2)
Writer Sir Mack Rice states that this song was originally titled "
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Mama" but was changed to "

" at the behest of Aretha Franklin.