"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.
Time to put the ear covers on?
No!
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
(Born to) Born to multiply
Born to gaze into night skies
All you want's one more Saturday
Well, look here, until then
They're gonna buy your life's time
So keep your wick in the air and your feet in the fetters
'Til the day
We come in doing cartwheels
We all crawl out by ourselves
And your shape on the dance floor
Will have me thinking such filth I'll gouge my eyes
You'd be damned to be one of us, girl
Faced with a dodo's conundrum
I felt like I could just fly
But nothing happened every time I tried
Ooh, ooh
A duotone on the wall
Selfless fool who hoped he'd save us all
Never dreamt of such sterile hands
You keep 'em folded in your lap
Or raise them up to beg for scraps
You know he's holding you down
With the tips of his fingers just the same
Will you be pulled from the ocean
A-just a minute too late
Or changed by a potion
To find a handsome young mate for you to love
You'll be damned to pining through the windowpanes
You know you'd trade your life for any ordinary Joe
Well, do it now or grow old
Your nightmares only need a year or two to unfold
Been alone since you were twenty-one
You haven't laughed since January
You try and make like this is so much fun
But we know it to be quite contrary
La-la-la-la, la-la-la
Dare to be one of us, girl
Faced with the android's conundrum
I felt like I should just cry
But nothing happens every time I take one on the chin
You're Himmler in your coat, you don't know how long I've been
Watching the lantern dim, starved of oxygen
So give me your hand and let's jump out the window
La-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la
No!
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
(Born to) Born to multiply
Born to gaze into night skies
All you want's one more Saturday
Well, look here, until then
They're gonna buy your life's time
So keep your wick in the air and your feet in the fetters
'Til the day
We come in doing cartwheels
We all crawl out by ourselves
And your shape on the dance floor
Will have me thinking such filth I'll gouge my eyes
You'd be damned to be one of us, girl
Faced with a dodo's conundrum
I felt like I could just fly
But nothing happened every time I tried
Ooh, ooh
A duotone on the wall
Selfless fool who hoped he'd save us all
Never dreamt of such sterile hands
You keep 'em folded in your lap
Or raise them up to beg for scraps
You know he's holding you down
With the tips of his fingers just the same
Will you be pulled from the ocean
A-just a minute too late
Or changed by a potion
To find a handsome young mate for you to love
You'll be damned to pining through the windowpanes
You know you'd trade your life for any ordinary Joe
Well, do it now or grow old
Your nightmares only need a year or two to unfold
Been alone since you were twenty-one
You haven't laughed since January
You try and make like this is so much fun
But we know it to be quite contrary
La-la-la-la, la-la-la
Dare to be one of us, girl
Faced with the android's conundrum
I felt like I should just cry
But nothing happens every time I take one on the chin
You're Himmler in your coat, you don't know how long I've been
Watching the lantern dim, starved of oxygen
So give me your hand and let's jump out the window
La-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la
Lyrics submitted by heyheyhey111, edited by honeybee13, yaiir, Gryphoning, SoWhy, pinkredrabbits, lekawa, ydepth, pavelkomarov, boywithdreams
Australia Lyrics as written by James Mercer
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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i just wanted to point out that in himmler's wikipedia article, the word "coat" appears while recounting an incident where, during a mass execution of jews in poland, brain matter splattered onto himmler's coat, causing him to vomit. gross, yes, but also a very visceral feeling of disgust, but more importantly, created by himmler himself. "you're himmler in your coat" could mean "you disgust yourself, but you're the oen who did it."