"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.
these places, they don't make me happy
and this food, no, it don't make me full
and the moon makes me sad for the love that we had
it was you, oh, you, who did me good
and these shows that I watch in the daytime
and these pages that I read in the night
and these girls that I see, well, they just remind me
it was you, oh, you, who did me good
you did me good
you did me good
you did me good
you did me good
yeah, you did me good
oh, did me good
you did me good
you did me good
when we stayed up til we saw the sun
yeah, you did me good
well, baby I've been thinking all about you
and I've been visiting with you each night in my dreams
and I know that you'll come back
cause I have seen that other man
and baby, he ain't doing you no good
so come back
oh, and do me good
do me good
do me good
do me some good
do me good
do me good
and we'll stay up til we see the sun
and do us some good
she's a good one when she's cleaning out her room
she won't like you, no, she loves me
I've seen trouble come my way
I've seen many a dark day
but I've seen the sun coming up in your face
and I know that you'll come back
cause I've seen that other man
and baby, baby, baby
he ain't doing you no good
so come back
and do me good
do me good
do me good
do me good
yeah, do me some good
do me good
do me good
oh, do me good
cause you did me good
you did me good
you did me good
yeah, you did me good
you did me good
you did me good
we can stay up til we see the sun
yeah, we'll stay up til we see the sun
like we stayed up til we saw the sun
when you did me good
and this food, no, it don't make me full
and the moon makes me sad for the love that we had
it was you, oh, you, who did me good
and these shows that I watch in the daytime
and these pages that I read in the night
and these girls that I see, well, they just remind me
it was you, oh, you, who did me good
you did me good
you did me good
you did me good
you did me good
yeah, you did me good
oh, did me good
you did me good
you did me good
when we stayed up til we saw the sun
yeah, you did me good
well, baby I've been thinking all about you
and I've been visiting with you each night in my dreams
and I know that you'll come back
cause I have seen that other man
and baby, he ain't doing you no good
so come back
oh, and do me good
do me good
do me good
do me some good
do me good
do me good
and we'll stay up til we see the sun
and do us some good
she's a good one when she's cleaning out her room
she won't like you, no, she loves me
I've seen trouble come my way
I've seen many a dark day
but I've seen the sun coming up in your face
and I know that you'll come back
cause I've seen that other man
and baby, baby, baby
he ain't doing you no good
so come back
and do me good
do me good
do me good
do me good
yeah, do me some good
do me good
do me good
oh, do me good
cause you did me good
you did me good
you did me good
yeah, you did me good
you did me good
you did me good
we can stay up til we see the sun
yeah, we'll stay up til we see the sun
like we stayed up til we saw the sun
when you did me good
Lyrics submitted by delial
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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jadedgypsy - it's an assumption based on references in other songs, including "bank and trust" (like you mentioned) and "it was love," which is just a few songs earlier than this - several reviews also mentioned that one as containing pretty obvious references to jl. there are lots of other lines in the album also. actually, i think the "emily" character in these song is a thinly veiled reference to jl. do you buy that?