"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.
it's burning and it's burning, it's burning,
a fire inside that i just don't believe
some call it anger, some say frustration
but i think i call this big greed
this time the circus has left without us
and we could run away
the fringe is the center now,
hey boys that's great
when i woke up in hawthorne,
i took ocean down to the fairground to see everyone
so beautiful that i drown in the waves of the haircuts
spin kicks and jumps
well i got my bottled water and my nachos,
it came in under twenty bucks
i got this bad taste in the back of my mouth
from my time on the back of a bus
this summer vacation, it's cheap and it's true
it's ideals are intact, it's the best we can do
this time you turn into your own enemy
not sell outs but dictated economies
(whoo!)
these thieves, these thieves in their flip-flops and bro attitudes
are the very reason we do what we do
when i say fuck the man, it's what i believe
no matter who that man happens to be.
no matter who that man happens to be.
this kevin or that one, it all seems the same
exploit the avenues, fix all the gains
maybe they'll buy everything that you sell
but i'm outside these fences,
rolling fast down that hill...
fuck your warped tour yeah!
mother fucker!
a fire inside that i just don't believe
some call it anger, some say frustration
but i think i call this big greed
this time the circus has left without us
and we could run away
the fringe is the center now,
hey boys that's great
when i woke up in hawthorne,
i took ocean down to the fairground to see everyone
so beautiful that i drown in the waves of the haircuts
spin kicks and jumps
well i got my bottled water and my nachos,
it came in under twenty bucks
i got this bad taste in the back of my mouth
from my time on the back of a bus
this summer vacation, it's cheap and it's true
it's ideals are intact, it's the best we can do
this time you turn into your own enemy
not sell outs but dictated economies
(whoo!)
these thieves, these thieves in their flip-flops and bro attitudes
are the very reason we do what we do
when i say fuck the man, it's what i believe
no matter who that man happens to be.
no matter who that man happens to be.
this kevin or that one, it all seems the same
exploit the avenues, fix all the gains
maybe they'll buy everything that you sell
but i'm outside these fences,
rolling fast down that hill...
fuck your warped tour yeah!
mother fucker!
Lyrics submitted by baconandeggs
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Fast Car
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
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It's obviously about the Warped Tour. Does anyone know details about this whole story?
those are pretty much the lyrics, but a few corrections:
"the fringe is the center now, hey boys that's great"
"fuck your warped tour yeah! mother fucker!"
This is Lawrence Arms just putting their hate of Warped Tour into a song. Rather than join the "dictated economies" they go on their own tour each summer the same time the warped tour takes place. They feel that warped takes away from smaller venues making money, so they offer a cheap tour each year for them...pretty classy
The song's actual title is called "Warped Summer Extravaganza" I posted an explanation under that title, but here it is again:
This is Lawrence Arms just putting their hate of Warped Tour into a song. Rather than join the "dictated economies" they go on their own tour each summer the same time the warped tour takes place. They feel that warped takes away from smaller venues making money, so they offer a cheap tour each year for them...pretty classy
I love the line 'the fringe is the center now' saying emo has gained the main attention at warped, though it started out as a punk-ish festival. great song.
they speak about it in interviews:
absolutepunk.net/showthread.php
I think they're poking fun at specific bands. Obviously "A Fire Inside that I just don't believe" is pertaining to AFI. Also the part "when i woke up in hawthorne, i took ocean down to the fairground," I think could be calling out Hawthorne Heights and Yellowcard (who's CD is titled Ocean Ave.) for being such shitty bands. Lawrence Arms were also kicked off of Warped Tour because they were constantly shit talking it during their set according the fat wreck chords. Bottom line: larry arms rule.
The ending isn't "Fuck the warped tour yeah!", it's "Fuck your warped idea!"
This will provide a little more insight: thepunksite.com/interviews.php
Bobby: Why such the anti-Warped stance?
Brendan: Well, it has to do with the fact that Warped Tour, it’s destroying the economy of DIY; and it’s doing it very methodically and very successfully in that [the] summer touring season used to involve a bunch of bands, like Alkaline Trio for example, jumping on buses and taking smaller bands, like us and the Black Maria for example, on tour. There would be all these bands that would do that, so all these support bands would have great tours to go on. Kids in every town would have a bunch of different shows to go see, like over the summer. Small clubs would have big, good shows at least once a week if not twice a week, three times a week; and kids would have stuff to do. Now, all those big bands go on the Warped Tour. When they come to town, it’s for one day. It’s in a band shell, small clubs all across the US are closing down, they can’t offered to be open. Bands like us have to tour against the Warped Tour, which sucks; or tour on the Warped Tour, which sucks even more. And you know it’s in a fucking big band shell; and the fact is, every single person who would read this interview, got into this at least in a tiny, little way thought there was something cooler than going to a band shell and buying twelve dollar bottles of water and standing there watching your favorite band play from like a million feet away. Now people talk about the Warped Tour like it’s the greatest thing to ever happen to punk rock, it’s not the greatest thing to ever happen to punk rock - it’s single handedly dismantling the whole thing we’ve been fucking building for all this time and nobody gives a fuck. And bands, big bands that play the Warped Tour say things like “Oh, it’s great, you only have to play it for half an hour” and it’s like “Fuck you! This is your job, I don’t care how hard you don’t have to work in order to get paid; like you’re fucking everybody!” And that’s why it’s the biggest tragedy. And that’s why it’s the worst thing to ever happen to punk rock, or DIY music in general.