"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.
[1]
I spent my whole life
In love with despair
Kept my lungs full
With the breath of their
Mute atmosphere
... I became what I hate.
And thus shall I remain
To give birth to a mighty assassin
Armed with a weapon of words
To defy the lies
To never compromise
No.
Today, my name .... is pain.
[2]
I stood
Beyond the world
Whispering secret syllables
In the eyeless dark
Dancing wildly
Round and round on the rotting ground
Surrounded by the dead dusts of Hell ...
This is how I delete myself
& this is how I corrupt everyone else
Obey
Obey
Betray
Betray
You are not unique.
You do not need to think.
Take it, take it!
I will,
I will ... I will.
You succumb, so nicely.
[like an insect staring back, like a dying dove]
My love ..... [no] ..... my love.
[song]
So here we are again
The sheets are stained & bloodied
The animals scratch at my skin
Here we are again
My face is scraped & bloodied
I've nothing left to give
- I wasn't there,
- I'm not involved,
- I'm innocent,
- it's not my fault.
- I wasn't there,
- I'm not involved,
- I'm innocent,
- it's not my fault.
.. here in the suicide trees.
.. here in the suicide trees.
[[no. bloody, bloody, bloody, MURDER!]]
AMONG THE EXCREMENT OF MY SINS!!
It's not happening, it can't be happening, it's not happening.
So here we are again
In secret ceremonies
Changing shape, amen.
Here we are again
Pretending not to notice
The illness sneaking in.
- I wasn't there,
- I'm not involved,
- I'm innocent,
- it's not my fault.
- I wasn't there,
- I'm not involved,
- I'm innocent,
- it's not my fault.
.. here in the suicide trees.
.. here in the suicide trees.
Toil & labor
Hate your neighbor
Faith in favor
Obey!
Toil & labor
Hate your neighbor
Faith in favor
Obey!
OBEY.
OBEY.
HERE, I DO AS I PLEASE!
HERE IN THE SUICIDE TREES!
HERE, I DO AS I PLEASE!
HERE IN THE SUICIDE TREES!!
OBEY!!
HATE YOUR NEIGHBORS!
HATE YOUR NEIGHBORS!!
[the animals scratch at my skin]
It's not happening, it's not happening.
I spent my whole life
In love with despair
Kept my lungs full
With the breath of their
Mute atmosphere
... I became what I hate.
And thus shall I remain
To give birth to a mighty assassin
Armed with a weapon of words
To defy the lies
To never compromise
No.
Today, my name .... is pain.
[2]
I stood
Beyond the world
Whispering secret syllables
In the eyeless dark
Dancing wildly
Round and round on the rotting ground
Surrounded by the dead dusts of Hell ...
This is how I delete myself
& this is how I corrupt everyone else
Obey
Obey
Betray
Betray
You are not unique.
You do not need to think.
Take it, take it!
I will,
I will ... I will.
You succumb, so nicely.
[like an insect staring back, like a dying dove]
My love ..... [no] ..... my love.
[song]
So here we are again
The sheets are stained & bloodied
The animals scratch at my skin
Here we are again
My face is scraped & bloodied
I've nothing left to give
- I wasn't there,
- I'm not involved,
- I'm innocent,
- it's not my fault.
- I wasn't there,
- I'm not involved,
- I'm innocent,
- it's not my fault.
.. here in the suicide trees.
.. here in the suicide trees.
[[no. bloody, bloody, bloody, MURDER!]]
AMONG THE EXCREMENT OF MY SINS!!
It's not happening, it can't be happening, it's not happening.
So here we are again
In secret ceremonies
Changing shape, amen.
Here we are again
Pretending not to notice
The illness sneaking in.
- I wasn't there,
- I'm not involved,
- I'm innocent,
- it's not my fault.
- I wasn't there,
- I'm not involved,
- I'm innocent,
- it's not my fault.
.. here in the suicide trees.
.. here in the suicide trees.
Toil & labor
Hate your neighbor
Faith in favor
Obey!
Toil & labor
Hate your neighbor
Faith in favor
Obey!
OBEY.
OBEY.
HERE, I DO AS I PLEASE!
HERE IN THE SUICIDE TREES!
HERE, I DO AS I PLEASE!
HERE IN THE SUICIDE TREES!!
OBEY!!
HATE YOUR NEIGHBORS!
HATE YOUR NEIGHBORS!!
[the animals scratch at my skin]
It's not happening, it's not happening.
Lyrics submitted by ded_inside1585
Suicide Trees Lyrics as written by Otep Shamaya Greg Wells
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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Was listening to this song and couldn't help but think of what drives someone to commit suicide. Is it the daily choices they make? How do choices that other people make influence you and your own decision to kill yourself?
Taking it one step further, I see a tree as a lifetime of choices. My life could be represented as a tree. Each branch would be some place where someone else has influenced my life. So even though you're not there when my branch ends (aka life ends), you were there when it began. To say "I wasn't there" isn't true, at one point in my life you were there. At one point I could say "it was your fault".