"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.
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we'll all stay free
Praise the Lord and swing into position
Can't afford to be a politician
Praise the Lord, we're all between perdition
And the deep blue sea
Yes the sky pilot said it
Ya gotta give him credit
For a sonofagun of a gunner was he
Shouting Praise the Lord, we're on a mighty mission
All aboard, we ain't a-goin' fishin'
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we'll all stay free
Praise the Lord (Praise the Lord) and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord (Praise the Lord) and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord (Praise the Lord) and pass the ammunition
And we'll all stay free
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we'll all stay free
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we'll all stay free
Praise the Lord and swing into position
Can't afford to be a politician
Praise the Lord, we're all between perdition
And the deep blue sea
Yes the sky pilot said it
Ya gotta give him credit
For a sonofagun of a gunner was he
Shouting Praise the Lord, we're on a mighty mission
All aboard, we ain't a-goin' fishin'
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we'll all stay free
Praise the Lord (Praise the Lord) and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord (Praise the Lord) and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord (Praise the Lord) and pass the ammunition
And we'll all stay free
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we'll all stay free
Lyrics submitted by sillybunny
Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition! Lyrics as written by Frank Loesser
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Another story about the song is that Kay Kyser recorded it on one day’s notice as a result of a telephone call from Loesser, who sang it long distance. Kyser liked it and put an arranger on the phone to write down the words and melody as Loesser sang. The band rehearsed and recorded it in Hollywood the next day—July 31, 1942 (the same date they recorded the equally popular and irreverent “Strip Polka”)—at the last Kyser recording session before the musicians’ union prohibition against instrumental recordings took effect. The story seems plausible, as the Library of Congress did not receive Loesser’s music until August 21. Kay Kyser’s dance band had risen to national prominence after first appearing at Chicago’s Blackhawk Hotel in 1934. His musical quiz show, the College of Musical Knowledge, remained topflight radio entertainment for years.