"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.
I would rather be buried in some cypress grove
I would rather be buried in some cypress grove
To have some woman, Lord, that I can't control
And I'm goin' away now, I'm goin' away to stay
And I'm goin' away now, I'm goin' away to stay
That'll be all right, pretty mama, you gonna need my help someday
And the sun goin' down, and you know what your promise means
And the sun goin' down, you know what your promise means
And what's the matter, baby, I can't see
I would rather be dead and six feet in my grave
I would rather be dead and six feet in my grave
Than to be way up here, honey, treated this a-way
And the old people told me, baby, but I never did know
The old people told me, baby woman, but I never did know
"The good book declare you got to reap just what you sow"
When your knee bone's achin' and your body cold
When your knee bone's achin' and your body cold
Means you just gettin' ready, honey, for the cypress grove
I would rather be buried in some cypress grove
To have some woman, Lord, that I can't control
And I'm goin' away now, I'm goin' away to stay
And I'm goin' away now, I'm goin' away to stay
That'll be all right, pretty mama, you gonna need my help someday
And the sun goin' down, and you know what your promise means
And the sun goin' down, you know what your promise means
And what's the matter, baby, I can't see
I would rather be dead and six feet in my grave
I would rather be dead and six feet in my grave
Than to be way up here, honey, treated this a-way
And the old people told me, baby, but I never did know
The old people told me, baby woman, but I never did know
"The good book declare you got to reap just what you sow"
When your knee bone's achin' and your body cold
When your knee bone's achin' and your body cold
Means you just gettin' ready, honey, for the cypress grove
Lyrics submitted by FackingHell
Cypress Grove Lyrics as written by Nehemiah Skip James
Lyrics © WYNWOOD MUSIC CO. INC.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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These lyrics are freaking amazing. Cypress trees only grow in the swamp, so Skip's saying that he would rather be buried in a swamp than have a woman he can't "control"... whatever that means. That last stanza is chilling. Amazing.
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