"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Your butt is mine
Gonna tell you right
Just show your face
In broad daylight
I'm telling you
On how I feel
Gonna hurt your mind
Don't shoot to kill
Come on
Come on
Lay it on me
All right
I'm giving you
On count of three
To show your stuff
Or let it be
I'm telling you
Just watch your mouth
I know your game
What you're about
But they say the sky's the limit
And to me that's really true
But my friend you have seen nothin'
Just wait 'til I get through
Because I'm bad, I'm bad, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad
The word is out
You're doin' wrong
Gonna lock you up
Before too long
Your lyin' eyes
Gonna tell you right
So listen up
Don't make a fight
Your talk is cheap
You're not a man
You're throwin' stones
To hide your hands
But they say the sky's the limit
And to me that's really true
And my friends you have seen nothin'
Just wait 'til I get through
Because I'm bad, I'm bad, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad
We can change the world tomorrow
This could be a better place
If you don't like what I'm sayin'
Then won't you slap my face
Because I'm bad, I'm bad, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it, you know it (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know, you know, you know, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
You know I'm, woo, I'm bad, you know it (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, baby (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know, you know, you know it, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, woo (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad?
Gonna tell you right
Just show your face
In broad daylight
I'm telling you
On how I feel
Gonna hurt your mind
Don't shoot to kill
Come on
Come on
Lay it on me
All right
I'm giving you
On count of three
To show your stuff
Or let it be
I'm telling you
Just watch your mouth
I know your game
What you're about
But they say the sky's the limit
And to me that's really true
But my friend you have seen nothin'
Just wait 'til I get through
Because I'm bad, I'm bad, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad
The word is out
You're doin' wrong
Gonna lock you up
Before too long
Your lyin' eyes
Gonna tell you right
So listen up
Don't make a fight
Your talk is cheap
You're not a man
You're throwin' stones
To hide your hands
But they say the sky's the limit
And to me that's really true
And my friends you have seen nothin'
Just wait 'til I get through
Because I'm bad, I'm bad, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad
We can change the world tomorrow
This could be a better place
If you don't like what I'm sayin'
Then won't you slap my face
Because I'm bad, I'm bad, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on, you know (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it, you know it (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know, you know, you know, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
You know I'm, woo, I'm bad, you know it (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, baby (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know, you know, you know it, come on (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, woo (bad, bad, really, really bad)
You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it (bad, bad, really, really bad)
And the whole world has to
Answer right now
Just to tell you once again
Who's bad?
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
who could forget the "whose ban" at the end
it's 'who's BAD'