"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 wish that we could talk about it
But there, that's the problem
With someone new I couldn't start it
Too late, for beginnings
The little things that made me nervous
Are gone, in a moment
I miss the way we used to argue
Locked, in your basement
I wake up and the phone is ringing
Surprised, as it's early
And that should be the perfect warning
That something's a problem
To tell the truth I saw it coming
The way you were breathing
But nothing can prepare you for it
The voice on the other end
The worst is all the lovely weather
I'm stunned, it's not raining
The coffee isn't even bitter
Because, what's the difference?
There's all the work that needs to be done
It's late, for revision
There's all the time and all the planning
And songs, to be finished
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
'Til the day it stops
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
'Til the day it stops
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
'Til the day it stops
I wish that we could talk about it
But there, that's the problem
With someone new I could have started
Too late for beginnings
You're smaller than my wife imagined
Surprised, you were human
There shouldn't be this radio silence
But what are the options?
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
We're safe, for the moment
Saved for the moment
But there, that's the problem
With someone new I couldn't start it
Too late, for beginnings
The little things that made me nervous
Are gone, in a moment
I miss the way we used to argue
Locked, in your basement
I wake up and the phone is ringing
Surprised, as it's early
And that should be the perfect warning
That something's a problem
To tell the truth I saw it coming
The way you were breathing
But nothing can prepare you for it
The voice on the other end
The worst is all the lovely weather
I'm stunned, it's not raining
The coffee isn't even bitter
Because, what's the difference?
There's all the work that needs to be done
It's late, for revision
There's all the time and all the planning
And songs, to be finished
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
'Til the day it stops
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
'Til the day it stops
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
And it keeps coming
'Til the day it stops
I wish that we could talk about it
But there, that's the problem
With someone new I could have started
Too late for beginnings
You're smaller than my wife imagined
Surprised, you were human
There shouldn't be this radio silence
But what are the options?
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
When someone great is gone
We're safe, for the moment
Saved for the moment
Lyrics submitted by someonegreat, edited by janeaparis1
Someone Great Lyrics as written by James Jeremiah Murphy
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
This song is about a loved one dying. You argue with loved ones & they drive you crazy, and then they die & you miss even the dumb things like that. You suddenly think of all these things you wish you could have said to him/her. It seems in this case, there was an unresolved argument that kept them apart & now that the loved one has died he is regretting never resolving it with that person, but now it's too late to start over with him/her. It's late for "revision".
The person was ill for a little while, ("To tell the truth I saw it coming, The way, you were breathing.") and that sort of was a warning, but you still can never be ready to lose a loved one. It's always a shock. Also, that kind of news often comes at odd times, like early in the morning when you don't normally get a phone call.
It's weird to him that weather is nice & that coffee tastes good because when something tragic happens you almost expect everything else to reflect it. Like, how can the world go on like nothing happened when this amazing person has just died? The weather should be grieving also.
The line about his wife being surprised at how small this person is & that he/she is human is describing how he thought so much of this person & probably talked so highly of him/her (hence the title of the song & line "when someone great is gone.") that people who had never met this person before would expect them to be almost more than human. I think it is a really sad & sweet song at the same time. It really hits on some feelings you have when someone you love dies.
I love your interpretation of this song. It goes right along with how I felt about it. This is one of the only songs that has ever put tears to my eyes. It's such a beautiful song. The instrumentals, the singer's voice, and the beat all go together so well. The second verse where he says "but nothing can prepare you for it, the voice on the other end," almost always chokes me up because it's so sad.
I think voodoodolly is essentially correct, but let me expand: I think the song is about George Kamen, a pychiatrist practicing in NY, to whom the album is dedicated to and to whom I would speculate the songwriter went to for therapy. <br /> <br /> I think the first stanza describes speaker's funny problem of talking about a death with his therapist when the death is that of the therapist:<br /> <br /> I wish that we could talk about it, But there, that's the problem <br /> <br /> ;and his belief that seeing a new therapist about this would be futile and unsatisfactory compared to the length and quality of his relationship with Mr. Kamen. The songwriter expresses his appreciation of the therapist and the therapeutic process (sometimes antagonistic) by saying, <br /> <br /> The little things that made me nervous, <br /> are gone, in a moment<br /> I missed the way we used to argue, <br /> Locked, in your basement.<br /> <br /> I think voodoodolly is on target with second and third stanzas. I would add that the line <br /> <br /> Your smaller than my wife imagined<br /> Surprised, you were human<br /> <br /> could also refer to diminutive,perhaps, dwarf-like, stature of the therapist as many, at least in my experience, are quite short. The line about the "ring of silence" has a double meaning. First, the grief that numbs a person when someone passes away and it also, I believe , refers to the exclusive, private and unique relationship between Mr. Kamen and the speaker where things not uttered to others (including the previously mentioned wife) are shared. By virtue of Mr. Kamen's death this ring of silence is sealed forever and the issues are no longer to be talked about in the previously unique format ("But what, are the options?").<br /> <br /> The chorus "Someone great is gone", of course, refers to the speaker's attachment Mr. Kamen and his professional stature in his field (check his bio).<br /> <br /> The last two lines are interesting:<br /> <br /> We're safe, for the moment<br /> Saved,<br /> for the moment<br /> <br /> I like to think it's an acknowledgement of death that comes to all and perhaps, the healing nature and redemptive nature of therapy where the word 'moment' refers back to the word 'moment' in the first stanza.<br /> <br /> But I could be overanalyzing ....
I thought he was sing the death of his son/daughter :(