"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.
My heart is beating from me
I am standing all alone
Please call me only if you are coming home
Waste another year flies by
Waste a night or two
You taught me how to live
In the streets of shame
Where you've lost your dreams in the rain
There's no signs of hope
The stems and seeds of the last of the dope
There's a glow of light
The Saint Jimmy is the spark in the night
Bearing gifts and trust
The fixture in the city of lust
What the hell's your name?
What's your pleasure and what is your pain?
Do you dream too much?
Do you think what you need is a crutch?
In the crowd of pain Saint Jimmy comes without any shame
He says, "We're fucked up" and we're not the same
And mom and dad are the ones you can blame
Jimmy died today
He blew his brains out into the bay
In this state of mind, it's my own private suicide
Well, nobody cares
Well, nobody cares
Does anyone care if nobody cares?
Well, nobody cares
Well, nobody cares
Does anyone care if nobody cares?
Jesus is filling out paperwork now
At the facility on East 12th Street
He's not listening to a word now
He's in his own world and he's daydreaming
He'd rather be doing something else now
Like cigarettes and coffee with the underbelly
His life's on the line with anxiety now
She had enough and he had plenty
Somebody get me out of there
Anybody get me out of there
Somebody get me out of here
Get me the fuck right out of there
So far away
I don't wanna stay
Get me out of here right now
I just wanna be free
Is there a possibility?
Get me out of here right now
Right
This life like dream ain't for me
I fell asleep while watching Spike TV
After ten cups of coffee
And you're still not here
Dreaming of a song
But something went wrong
And you can't tell anyone
'Cause no one's here
Left me here alone
And I should have stayed home
After ten cups of coffee I'm thinking
Where'd you go
Nobody likes you
Everyone left you (where'd you go)
They're all out without you havin' fun (where'd you go)
Everyone left you
Nobody's like you (where'd you go)
They're all out without you havin' fun
Where'd you go
Jeez
I got a rock and roll band
I got a rock and roll life
I got a rock and roll girlfriend
And another ex-wife
I got a rock and roll house
I got a rock and roll car
I play the shit out the drums
And I can play the guitar
I got a kid in New York
I got a kid in the bay
I haven't drank or smoked a thing
In over twenty two days
So get off my case, get off my case, off of my case!
Here they come marching down the street
Like a desperation murmur of a heart beat
Coming back from the edge of town
Underneath their feet
The time has come and it's going nowhere
Nobody ever said that life was fair now
Go-carts and guns are treasures they will bear
In the summer heat
The world is spinning around and around
Out of control again
The 7-11 to the fear of breaking down
So send my love a letter bomb
And visit me in hell
We're the ones going
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
I started fuckin' running
As soon as my feet touched ground
We're back in the barrio
And to you and me, that's Jingle Town that's
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home (no, fuck you, just go, I don't care, I don't, I don't)
We're coming home again (no, fuck you, just go, I don't care, I don't, I don't)
Nobody likes you
Everyone left you
They're all out without you havin' fun
I am standing all alone
Please call me only if you are coming home
Waste another year flies by
Waste a night or two
You taught me how to live
In the streets of shame
Where you've lost your dreams in the rain
There's no signs of hope
The stems and seeds of the last of the dope
There's a glow of light
The Saint Jimmy is the spark in the night
Bearing gifts and trust
The fixture in the city of lust
What the hell's your name?
What's your pleasure and what is your pain?
Do you dream too much?
Do you think what you need is a crutch?
In the crowd of pain Saint Jimmy comes without any shame
He says, "We're fucked up" and we're not the same
And mom and dad are the ones you can blame
Jimmy died today
He blew his brains out into the bay
In this state of mind, it's my own private suicide
Well, nobody cares
Well, nobody cares
Does anyone care if nobody cares?
Well, nobody cares
Well, nobody cares
Does anyone care if nobody cares?
Jesus is filling out paperwork now
At the facility on East 12th Street
He's not listening to a word now
He's in his own world and he's daydreaming
He'd rather be doing something else now
Like cigarettes and coffee with the underbelly
His life's on the line with anxiety now
She had enough and he had plenty
Somebody get me out of there
Anybody get me out of there
Somebody get me out of here
Get me the fuck right out of there
So far away
I don't wanna stay
Get me out of here right now
I just wanna be free
Is there a possibility?
Get me out of here right now
Right
This life like dream ain't for me
I fell asleep while watching Spike TV
After ten cups of coffee
And you're still not here
Dreaming of a song
But something went wrong
And you can't tell anyone
'Cause no one's here
Left me here alone
And I should have stayed home
After ten cups of coffee I'm thinking
Where'd you go
Nobody likes you
Everyone left you (where'd you go)
They're all out without you havin' fun (where'd you go)
Everyone left you
Nobody's like you (where'd you go)
They're all out without you havin' fun
Where'd you go
Jeez
I got a rock and roll band
I got a rock and roll life
I got a rock and roll girlfriend
And another ex-wife
I got a rock and roll house
I got a rock and roll car
I play the shit out the drums
And I can play the guitar
I got a kid in New York
I got a kid in the bay
I haven't drank or smoked a thing
In over twenty two days
So get off my case, get off my case, off of my case!
Here they come marching down the street
Like a desperation murmur of a heart beat
Coming back from the edge of town
Underneath their feet
The time has come and it's going nowhere
Nobody ever said that life was fair now
Go-carts and guns are treasures they will bear
In the summer heat
The world is spinning around and around
Out of control again
The 7-11 to the fear of breaking down
So send my love a letter bomb
And visit me in hell
We're the ones going
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
I started fuckin' running
As soon as my feet touched ground
We're back in the barrio
And to you and me, that's Jingle Town that's
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home
We're coming home again
Home (no, fuck you, just go, I don't care, I don't, I don't)
We're coming home again (no, fuck you, just go, I don't care, I don't, I don't)
Nobody likes you
Everyone left you
They're all out without you havin' fun
Lyrics submitted by animated456, edited by TheNekomancer
Homecoming Lyrics as written by Frank E. Wright Iii Michael Pritchard
Lyrics © Royalty Network, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I agree that The Jesus of Suburbia is much better. The songs just tie together much better. I blame "Rock N Roll Girlfriend" (sorry Tre) because it obviously interupts the denouement of Billie-Joe's epic.
It's a shame because "The Death of St. Jimmy" is an incredible climax for the album. Like a good saint, Jimmy makes a good martyr. It gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it.
I understand the reintroduction of Jesus thereafter, too (filling out paperwork, the life of a quiet, very ignorable boy) now that his alter-ego is dead, who crashed and burned because of love. He's back to being stuck where he was going to get stuck if he hadn't fought for himself (and he still wants out).
"Nobody Likes You" is important as well, ESPECIALLY at the beginning of Letterbomb, where Whatsername breaks up with Jimmy. It's the anthem of the album, which is conceded by returning to the town he left in "We're Coming Home Again".
Really, he only had two choices: be the quiet boy everyone loves and ignores (Jesus), or be the punk who does what he wants and everyone hates (Jimmy). Either way you end up alone.
And that's why I love this album...
..."Rock N Roll Girlfriend" aside.
I think you're totally right.
I don't think Rock N Roll Girlfriend really interrupts it, I think it's meant to be a dream sequence. In "Nobody Likes You" he's falling asleep, Rock N Roll girlfriend is Jesus dreaming of what life was supposed to be like in his mind, instead of the way it's turning out.
Exactly.<br /> <br /> "Really, he only had two choices: be the quiet boy everyone loves and ignores (Jesus), or be the punk who does what he wants and everyone hates (Jimmy). Either way you end up alone." - The best way to describe JoS's dilemma.<br />
I like the part but i can easily see what you mean. In the context of the broadway show however it is great. Each section of the song is someone else's perspective at the end, showing how they turned out. I'm pretty sure that's what it was because I saw the show over a year ago.
OK, imma explain the story for the people that dont quite understand it...
The story begins 23 February in which the Jesus of Suburbia, an average American teen, is tired of watching the media, the manipulation thru television, about the lies account of the Bush administration about the Iraq War, the stereotypical view of his country that sees in the world, because of a villager president and creates hysteria among the population that follows, not feeling like a fool nor the "faggot" America.. (1.American Idiot).
Jesus of Suburbia lives with his divorced mother and her boyfriend, Brad, in a fictional neighborhood called Jingletown. His childhood was spent on a "steady diet of soda pop and Ritalin" watching TV, and experimenting with drugs and alcohol (2 - I. Jesus of Suburbia).
During the month of March JOS, sick and tired with his life in Jingletown,decides that this is not his place (2 - II. City of the Damned)
Feeling neglected and betrayed by their hypocritical "friends forever" (III. I Don ' t Care) and the effect it produces in his mind, he must go to a psychologist to fill his spiritual emptiness (2 - IV. Dearly Beloved). Jesus concludes that it can not keep living like this (To live, and not to breathe, Is to die in tragedy) and decides to flee his neighborhood and head for"The City" (2 - V. Tales of Another Broken Home).
Once he arrives at "The City" on April 1, having to sleep on the street during a rainy day and living the reality of people like him does not believe in the truth that they sell on TV and the repression that security means do about it. (3.Holiday) For a month, Jesus is lonely despite the population of "The City", where he wanders at night, looking for someone to talk to and discover that there is a boundary in his mind and his life was a lie Jingletown (4. Boulevard of Broken Dreams, 5. Are We The Waiting), so he decides to make a change in his personality.
Adopting the personality of his alter ego, acting as a punk, unruly and violent: Saint Jimmy (6. St. Jimmy).
Due to the loneliness and lack of resources he makes a living out of stealing food and being discovered more than once, having to pay hours of community service. Subsequently, the anger-driven personality of his alter ego makes him addicted to drugs to forget his loneliness (7. Give Me Novacaine).
During celebrations of the Independence of the United States, (July 4) Jimmy meets a girl who's name nobody knows so she's called, Whatsername. Jimmy was fascinated at first sight, apparently she was a real rebel, not someone pretending to be someone who is not really (8. She's a Rebel). Acting as "St. Jimmy", he starts dating her and eventually they fall in love, but he is unable to give her what she really needs due to his own insecurity, but she proves to be a sensitive girl in private, pretending to be someone who is not because she is afraid of hurting him . (9. Extraordinary Girl).
Together they live for some time out of the unemployment money, although she is tired of the life they lead, in a letter to Jesus/Jimmy, Whatsername expresses her frustration, and tells him that she is leaving him and "The City" before it destroys both of them(10. Letterbomb). With his heart broken, Jesus falls a dark period of depression(11. Wake Me Up When September Ends) and decides to leave the identity of St. Jimmy, faking a suicide in the Bay on 19 October (12 -I. The Death of St. Jimmy). Then he ends up prisoner in a police station and when he gets out he gets a job but ultimately realizes that its no his destiny(12. Part II - 12 East Street). One night when he stays until the morning watching TV with the hope that Whatsername will come back... then he realizes that she has abandoned him and feels rejected by society(12. Part III - Nobody Likes You).
After receiving a postcard from his friend Tunny telling him that he has succeeded in life (12. Part IV - Rock and Roll and Girlfriend) decides to go home with his mother (Part V. We 're Coming Home Again) and resume his old life and erase his memories except for whatsername whom he will remember forever (13-Whatsername), to start a new life in the place where he belongs
@silverush THANK YOU
Rock and Roll girlfriend doesnt interrupt it. You can see you only got the album downloaded. Buy the CD read the book and inside in the Homecoming lyrics section, is a postcard cellotaped into it, written by somebody. It begins "Dear J, I gotta rock...."
J obviously being Saint Jimmy.,
ok, first of all, Jimmy is the real name of jesus of suburbia, the letter is from a friend of Jimmy (Tunny) telling him that he has been successful in life after JOS left Jingletown. reading the letter makes JOS realize that its time to grow up and to stop whining for his problems instead of resolving them, so he decides to come home again and start over, to do things right this time... <br /> <br /> oh and the song Whatsername is nothing but JOS remembering whatsername and saying like: "man you where such a fucking IDIOT (forgive the repetition) for letting her go..."
well yea i downloaded the album, but i did it legally. gives thumbs up and wink
Jesus of Suburbia is better, I'd say...
it may be, but this is still great, u cant say u dont love it and be telling the truth
This song reminds me alot of "Tommy" as far as production goes. I could totally see it on Broadway one day. "R&R Girlfriend" reminds me of Meatloaf's bit in Rocky Horror. It sort of jumps in the middle of it all but I still think "R&R GF" kicks ass.
These lyrics and the whole concept of the album is so reminiscent of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and The Who's "Quadrophenia". Essentially, this is the closest Green Day will ever get to making a double album.
thats exactly what i thought... i think that the only thing comparable to what Pink Floyd did with "The Wall" is what Billie and company did with "American Idiot"
@Cherub Rock well thats cause they're all rock operas.
No, it's Jesus. His St. Jimmy side was killed off in "The Death of St. Jimmy".
freewebs.com/thejakesite
i dunno..how can you get a postcard from yourself?