"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.
Thinking outrageously I write in cursive
I hide in my bed with the lights on the floor
Wearing three layers of coats and leg warmers
I see my own breath on the face of the door
Oh I am not quite sleeping
Oh I am fast in bed
There on the wall in the bedroom creeping
I see a wasp with her wings outstretched
North of Sylvanna we swim in the Palisades
I come out wearing my brothers red hat
There on his shoulder my best friend is bit seven times
He runs washing his face in his hands
Oh how I meant to tease him
Oh how I meant no harm
Touching his back with my hand I kiss him
I see the wasp on the length of my arm
Oh great sights upon this state, hallelu
Wonders bright, and rivers, lake, hallelu
Trail of tears and Horseshoe Lake, hallelu
Trusting things beyond mistake, hallelu
We were in love, we were in love
Palisades, Palisades
I can wait I can wait
We were in love, we were in love
Palisades, Palisades
I can wait I can wait
We were in love, we were in love
Palisades, Palisades
I can wait I can wait
I can't explain the state that I'm in
The state of my heart, he was my best friend
Into the car, from the back seat
Oh admiration in falling asleep
All of my powers, day after day
I can tell you, we swaggered and swayed
Deep in the tower, the prairies below
I can tell you, the telling gets old
Terrible sting and terrible storm
I can tell you the day we were born
My friend is gone, he ran away
I can tell you, I love him each day
Though we have sparred, wrestled and raged
I can tell you I love him each day
Terrible sting, terrible storm
I can tell you
I hide in my bed with the lights on the floor
Wearing three layers of coats and leg warmers
I see my own breath on the face of the door
Oh I am not quite sleeping
Oh I am fast in bed
There on the wall in the bedroom creeping
I see a wasp with her wings outstretched
North of Sylvanna we swim in the Palisades
I come out wearing my brothers red hat
There on his shoulder my best friend is bit seven times
He runs washing his face in his hands
Oh how I meant to tease him
Oh how I meant no harm
Touching his back with my hand I kiss him
I see the wasp on the length of my arm
Oh great sights upon this state, hallelu
Wonders bright, and rivers, lake, hallelu
Trail of tears and Horseshoe Lake, hallelu
Trusting things beyond mistake, hallelu
We were in love, we were in love
Palisades, Palisades
I can wait I can wait
We were in love, we were in love
Palisades, Palisades
I can wait I can wait
We were in love, we were in love
Palisades, Palisades
I can wait I can wait
I can't explain the state that I'm in
The state of my heart, he was my best friend
Into the car, from the back seat
Oh admiration in falling asleep
All of my powers, day after day
I can tell you, we swaggered and swayed
Deep in the tower, the prairies below
I can tell you, the telling gets old
Terrible sting and terrible storm
I can tell you the day we were born
My friend is gone, he ran away
I can tell you, I love him each day
Though we have sparred, wrestled and raged
I can tell you I love him each day
Terrible sting, terrible storm
I can tell you
Lyrics submitted by addictedtosound, edited by atirashea, lockedinatower
The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is out to Get Us! Lyrics as written by Sufjan Stevens
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think it's about two kids, playing at the Palisades. Like any normal boys, they tease each other with outrageous stories about Predatory Bird Wasps and whatnot. One boy likely kisses the other, as a form of teasing, or at least that might have been his excuse, and it causes the other boy to run out washing his face in disgust. Children often do that sort of thing, experimenting, or doing things to gross each other out. I think the presence of the wasp in this scenario wasn't actually literal. Like Sufjan said, he made up a story about a Bird Wasp with his friend and that was probably one of his most prominent memories, along with kissing his friend. The two images are mixed together as he remembers his best friend. Alternatively, it could be his brother. Either way, we know that that person is no longer in his life anymore, but he still loves him.