"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.
On the north where the cold wind's always blow
People's faces are hard, you see no one that you know
And on the south side of town the bad guys are carrying guns
They're always screaming and swearing, they even got the cops on a run
This city is full of lonely hearts
And all the gutters are filled with broken parts
We gotta get away and make a brand new start
We gotta get away before it falls apart
You and me
You and me
We can still make it
We've got to leave
On the north side of town they say the streets are lined with gold
But all the people's tongues are turned black from the lies they told
On the east side of town you can hear someone's baby cry
And when that kid grows up, he's gonna turn into a mean old guy
This city is full of lonely hearts
And all the gutters are filled with broken parts
We gotta get away and make a brand new start
We gotta get away before it falls apart
You and me
You and me
We can still make it
We've got to leave
You and me
You and me
We can still make it
We've got to leave
This city is full of lonely hearts
And all the gutters are filled with broken parts
We gotta get away and make a brand new start
We gotta get away before it falls apart
This city is full of lonely hearts
And all the gutters are filled with broken parts
We gotta get away and make a brand new start
We gotta get away before it falls apart
You and me
You and me
We can still make it
We've got to leave
People's faces are hard, you see no one that you know
And on the south side of town the bad guys are carrying guns
They're always screaming and swearing, they even got the cops on a run
This city is full of lonely hearts
And all the gutters are filled with broken parts
We gotta get away and make a brand new start
We gotta get away before it falls apart
You and me
You and me
We can still make it
We've got to leave
On the north side of town they say the streets are lined with gold
But all the people's tongues are turned black from the lies they told
On the east side of town you can hear someone's baby cry
And when that kid grows up, he's gonna turn into a mean old guy
This city is full of lonely hearts
And all the gutters are filled with broken parts
We gotta get away and make a brand new start
We gotta get away before it falls apart
You and me
You and me
We can still make it
We've got to leave
You and me
You and me
We can still make it
We've got to leave
This city is full of lonely hearts
And all the gutters are filled with broken parts
We gotta get away and make a brand new start
We gotta get away before it falls apart
This city is full of lonely hearts
And all the gutters are filled with broken parts
We gotta get away and make a brand new start
We gotta get away before it falls apart
You and me
You and me
We can still make it
We've got to leave
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Fast Car
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"'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."
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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."
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It's a song about being in a place where, wherever you look in your town, you find something negative. On the other hand there is someone you want to escape with from this desperate situation. All you got to do is leave. Describing quite accurately my moving from one end of the country to the other, a few months ago. Plus it's got a great tune to it, as so often with Caesars...