"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.
Mornington Crescent
I think of you
Rain in the southeast
Men feeling blue
Men with their bowlers
Kids with their spats
Ladies with chauffeurs
Dogs wearing hats and jackets
Rich apartments
Old punk posters
Tartan garments
I love the exquisite array
I love the camp as camp parade
The possibilities suggest themselves to me
I'm feeling free
Mornington Crescent
The sun in the east
I've got a job on
For a Senegalese rich arbitrator
In African law
To paint his apartment, strip down the walls
Came down between us lately
Lust and want and need just caved in
'Is it wise?'
The answer's no
It never is but since you ask
We pause thoughtfully, for twenty seconds reprieve
Then it's off with the briefs
Mornington Crescent
Sin is my game
We'll all be lined up
Irrelevant fame
Next to the broker, the nurse and the drunk
I was a joker, the wannabe punk that got lucky
Had a good time
Life became fruitless
Egotistic swine to all your friends
All the ladies and the men
The possibilities suggest themselves to me
We're a little too free
I think of you
Rain in the southeast
Men feeling blue
Men with their bowlers
Kids with their spats
Ladies with chauffeurs
Dogs wearing hats and jackets
Rich apartments
Old punk posters
Tartan garments
I love the exquisite array
I love the camp as camp parade
The possibilities suggest themselves to me
I'm feeling free
Mornington Crescent
The sun in the east
I've got a job on
For a Senegalese rich arbitrator
In African law
To paint his apartment, strip down the walls
Came down between us lately
Lust and want and need just caved in
'Is it wise?'
The answer's no
It never is but since you ask
We pause thoughtfully, for twenty seconds reprieve
Then it's off with the briefs
Mornington Crescent
Sin is my game
We'll all be lined up
Irrelevant fame
Next to the broker, the nurse and the drunk
I was a joker, the wannabe punk that got lucky
Had a good time
Life became fruitless
Egotistic swine to all your friends
All the ladies and the men
The possibilities suggest themselves to me
We're a little too free
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This is my second favourite B&S song (after Asleep on a Sunbeam).
It took me a while to understand this song, because I grew up in London and have travelled on the Northern Line for as long as I can remember, so when I hear him sing "Mornington Cresent", all I hear is that recording of the woman that pronounces "Highgate" funny. But then I thought of what the name might sound like to someone that's not from London and realised that the sound of it is actually really strange, and maybe even romantic. And that's the key to understanding this song; this part of North London around Camden is full of afluence ("dogs wearing hats and jackets") and romance ("old punk posters") at first sight, but once you get to know it better you realise it's really a bit of a mundane shithole ("next to the broker, the nurse and the drunk"..."life became fruitless" etc.). Of course, it's an analogy for life in general, and thus the perfect ending to The Life Pursuit- like so many songs on that album, it's about going out and.. well... "Pursuing".. meaning and adventure in life, finding so much possibility and promise but ultimately finding that our optimism is misplaced. The last line sums it all up really, "we're a little too free"- modern life gives us so much choice and "possibility", that we just end up spending our entire lives in this pursuit...and failing... kindof depressing really...
For all you non-londoners, Mornington Crescent is the notorious underground station that's perpetually closed for rennovation. Not sure what goes on above ground there.
Just an idea but mornington crescent has got UCH (university college hospital) to the south of it (the nurse), camden town to the north (the drunk) and on the south of regents park (next to mornington) there's a big investment banking tower. UCH seems like a sitter for me (why else nurse?) but the others I'm a little hazy on
It's difficult to understand that while so many of the other song's on 'The Life Pursuit' receive so much comment and attention, 'Mornington Crescent' resides here with only one (albeit entirely factually correct!) comment. As an exiled Scot and one time metropolitan commuter, I connect with this song and the slightly regretful feeling about becomming immersed in the melting pot that is London. I know Stuart has laboured with this song for some time and the result is an absolute classic. Perhaps running as the last track of the 'The Life Pursuit' is a stroke of genius for the piece of understated genius that this song is. It's a slow burner guys, but will shine in the long term. Just listen to liltening turns of phrase in Beans' keyboards, or the gentle twang of Stevie's guitar. It's one of their finest achievements. Thanks guys!
I agree with curious boy. The best track on Life Pursuit and one of the greatest songs of their career.
..."Lust and want and need just caved in "Is it wise?" The answer’s no It never is but since you ask We pause thoughtfully For twenty seconds reprieve Then it’s off with the briefs"...
This part reminds me of a realtionship I once had with my boss...
Sounds more like; Morning Glory?
I've been listening to this song since the album came out but I'd never really listened to the lyrics anyway I'm not from the UK (though I do realize that Mornington Crescent is an underground station) and just yesterday I heard of the game Mornington Crecsent and I right away connected it to this song... then I listened to the lyrics and realized that is not in fact what this song is about. Yeah anyway.
I think that it is connected to the game. It's certainly full of surreal images, which fits well. <br /> <br /> It also has the feel of a classic english song, the guitar sound is very reminiscent of something like "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" or similar from the early days of Fairport Convention.
i love this song.
I love this melancholy song. The album is "The Life Pursuit" (whose name suggests "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness", from America's Declaration of Independence). This song is about the mechanical meaningless of modern life, centered on the pursuit of instant happiness. My favorite line is the last one: "The possibilities suggest themselves to me we’re a little too free."