"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.
Hey boys, I've come a long way
Along in the sun and the rain
What am I doing here? No-star hotel
Wasting my wealth
Telling myself to go to hell
Arm in a cast, heart like a corncob
Do noyt disturb sign hangin' on the door knob
Brain unplugged, my whole life in my luggage
My cruelty is dependable
And my ugliness is rugged
Smoke still slow dances out of my barrel
In the distance I can hear a kid
Singing a Christmas carol
And this is terrible, gorgeous and sinister
The pillow still smells like the secrets of my visitor
Nobody needs to know about this kind of thing
Blood on my back from the attack of her diamond ring
Me of all people, my mind's in a tail-spin
I'm just a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman
Part of me feels like dirt, the rest doesn't
She said I'm a way better lover than her husband
I've had a whole lot of fights
Along in the sun and the rain
Where am I going? Backwards to nowhere
In another man's shoes instead of my own pair
I promised discretion and to be at her beck and call
I look like a dandelion and feel like a wreckin' ball
I ran out of wishes and then she came to offer hers
Lookin' at myself in the mirror
I'm at a loss for words
I'm good at my job, goin' out of my mind kinda
Holding my face in my hands like fine China...
I've seen a whole of towns
Along in the sun and the rain
We met up again, went undercover literally
I told her about Cuba, I told her about Italy
Physics and photography, a little Russian history
Everything about her to me was such a mystery
I gave her the once over
She gave me the blood blister
She had no idea that I was fallin' in love with her
Call me mister
Crucial inspiration
All she wanted was my lust and useful information
What am I putting myself through this crap for?
Feels like I'm standing on top of a trap door
Lost at sea, tangled up in golden hair
Scavenger-hunter my life is a folding chair
My daily routine is down to a system
I give regular people truth and wisdom
That's what I do, it's my job, the prophet/profit
I can see the future and make money off it
I've kissed a whole lot of lips
Along in the sun and the rain
Along in the sun and the rain
What am I doing here? No-star hotel
Wasting my wealth
Telling myself to go to hell
Arm in a cast, heart like a corncob
Do noyt disturb sign hangin' on the door knob
Brain unplugged, my whole life in my luggage
My cruelty is dependable
And my ugliness is rugged
Smoke still slow dances out of my barrel
In the distance I can hear a kid
Singing a Christmas carol
And this is terrible, gorgeous and sinister
The pillow still smells like the secrets of my visitor
Nobody needs to know about this kind of thing
Blood on my back from the attack of her diamond ring
Me of all people, my mind's in a tail-spin
I'm just a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman
Part of me feels like dirt, the rest doesn't
She said I'm a way better lover than her husband
I've had a whole lot of fights
Along in the sun and the rain
Where am I going? Backwards to nowhere
In another man's shoes instead of my own pair
I promised discretion and to be at her beck and call
I look like a dandelion and feel like a wreckin' ball
I ran out of wishes and then she came to offer hers
Lookin' at myself in the mirror
I'm at a loss for words
I'm good at my job, goin' out of my mind kinda
Holding my face in my hands like fine China...
I've seen a whole of towns
Along in the sun and the rain
We met up again, went undercover literally
I told her about Cuba, I told her about Italy
Physics and photography, a little Russian history
Everything about her to me was such a mystery
I gave her the once over
She gave me the blood blister
She had no idea that I was fallin' in love with her
Call me mister
Crucial inspiration
All she wanted was my lust and useful information
What am I putting myself through this crap for?
Feels like I'm standing on top of a trap door
Lost at sea, tangled up in golden hair
Scavenger-hunter my life is a folding chair
My daily routine is down to a system
I give regular people truth and wisdom
That's what I do, it's my job, the prophet/profit
I can see the future and make money off it
I've kissed a whole lot of lips
Along in the sun and the rain
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
it's about an affair, but it sounds like the girl is using him for something (All she wanted was my lust and useful information). I'm not the greatest at interpreting songs but this one seems pretty straight forward. Either way it's a great song and an even better CD!