"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.
Force of my love was strong
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
Force of my love was strong
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
Ma, Ma, look what I did, Ma
Look what I did to my hands, I broke em
You gave me the stone, gave me the chisel
Didn't say how to hold em
Didn't say give away every piece of the puzzle
Till I was left with nothing
But I took it upon myself to crush it up and distribute the dust
Get in the bus, hop in the van
Jump in the water, crawl to the land
Build another castle out of the sand
Break it down and then I get into the saddle again
Going city to city I'm already lost, tell the boss
Who is new in town; I'm-a ride this horse till it bucks me off
And I'm forced to shoot it down
I'm-a take him out for some gasoline
I'm-a trade this cow for some magic beans
Make Mom proud of the deals that I've made
'Cause I'm just a modern day Johnny Appleseed
But I'm glad that I never passed the genes
And I never put down the axe
Piano Man got a checkered dance floor
To grace and the painful look on his face
'Cause the crowd is packed and the louder they clap
The less he is able to make the connection
Between what he sees when he hears certain notes
And the hurt that is shown in his facial expression
I don't need your go-ahead to go ahead
No, I know no one said it was gonna be easy
But sweet Jesus, who wants to sleep with me?
Way too many moves to learn
But not enough people to put em on
Lookit, Mom, no hands
I built this suit of armor with wooden arms
Force of my love was strong
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
Force of my love was strong
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
Oh God I think I'm dead
I can't see outside my head
Brains and bloods and cryptic gang men
Czars and warlords breaking bread
Thoughts are thought
What's said is said
I thought that 'fore you said it
I didn't mean to think out loud
My tongue slipped but who let it?
Let it be, let me be, let me go, nah let me out
My manhood nods and whispers when my father screams and shouts
Dear dad I'm sad you're dead
A new man standing in the pulpit
He bows before a wooden cross and forces praise the culprit
I'm a tenor in the choir but I sing a different song
Of how the where's and why's of now all prove I don't belong
But I'm staying I've planted seeds and plan to watch them grow
I've watered all my wishes dreams fulfilled more seeds to sow
And I promise to learn to love the way I've learned to fear
To unknot all the inhibitions tangled in my hair
To let my ego mound in piles around the barber chair
And make a graceful exit from my vexed and troubled years
I've decided I've been invited to my own resort
Where knights can leave their armor neatly piled by the door
And every woman, child, and man will gather by the shore
And study how sea lions swim in cursive
Force of my love was strong
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
Force of my love was strong
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
Force of my love was strong
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
Ma, Ma, look what I did, Ma
Look what I did to my hands, I broke em
You gave me the stone, gave me the chisel
Didn't say how to hold em
Didn't say give away every piece of the puzzle
Till I was left with nothing
But I took it upon myself to crush it up and distribute the dust
Get in the bus, hop in the van
Jump in the water, crawl to the land
Build another castle out of the sand
Break it down and then I get into the saddle again
Going city to city I'm already lost, tell the boss
Who is new in town; I'm-a ride this horse till it bucks me off
And I'm forced to shoot it down
I'm-a take him out for some gasoline
I'm-a trade this cow for some magic beans
Make Mom proud of the deals that I've made
'Cause I'm just a modern day Johnny Appleseed
But I'm glad that I never passed the genes
And I never put down the axe
Piano Man got a checkered dance floor
To grace and the painful look on his face
'Cause the crowd is packed and the louder they clap
The less he is able to make the connection
Between what he sees when he hears certain notes
And the hurt that is shown in his facial expression
I don't need your go-ahead to go ahead
No, I know no one said it was gonna be easy
But sweet Jesus, who wants to sleep with me?
Way too many moves to learn
But not enough people to put em on
Lookit, Mom, no hands
I built this suit of armor with wooden arms
Force of my love was strong
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
Force of my love was strong
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
Oh God I think I'm dead
I can't see outside my head
Brains and bloods and cryptic gang men
Czars and warlords breaking bread
Thoughts are thought
What's said is said
I thought that 'fore you said it
I didn't mean to think out loud
My tongue slipped but who let it?
Let it be, let me be, let me go, nah let me out
My manhood nods and whispers when my father screams and shouts
Dear dad I'm sad you're dead
A new man standing in the pulpit
He bows before a wooden cross and forces praise the culprit
I'm a tenor in the choir but I sing a different song
Of how the where's and why's of now all prove I don't belong
But I'm staying I've planted seeds and plan to watch them grow
I've watered all my wishes dreams fulfilled more seeds to sow
And I promise to learn to love the way I've learned to fear
To unknot all the inhibitions tangled in my hair
To let my ego mound in piles around the barber chair
And make a graceful exit from my vexed and troubled years
I've decided I've been invited to my own resort
Where knights can leave their armor neatly piled by the door
And every woman, child, and man will gather by the shore
And study how sea lions swim in cursive
Force of my love was strong
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
Force of my love was strong
The sea lion laying down long
A song in the air
Why should singer care
When singer can be among song
Lyrics submitted by ScottXcore
Sea Lion Lyrics as written by Joseph Will Oldham Brendon Patrick Whitney
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY, BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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