"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.
Fly away little bird
Any place in this open mouthed world
Begs to be fed like a bed that beckons you, but you won't rest
Everyone's got a need to go
Most of us stick with our row to hoe
But not you, you're the black crow
With a straight line, and no time
For the birds of prey who wreck your nest
Twice your size steal your best
They set you on this course of your collision
I am a stop along your way
I am the words you'll never say
I crossed the great beyond of fear
I opened my eyes and saw us there, what a view
You went there too
Fly away little bird
Find the song in you that no one's heard
Strenghthen your wings as you sing your solo flight
Through this short life
Everyone's got a deep regret
We try to ground ourselves to forget
But your race to the end is neck and neck
You love them, you love them not
The birds of prey who wreck your nest,
Twice your size steal your best
They set you on this course of your collision
I am a stop along your way
I am the words you'll never say
I crossed the great beyond of fear
Opened my eyes and saw us there, what a view
And you went there too
But all along your chosen path are
Window panes and sheets of glass
That you won't see
You fly too fast
One day it will be over
Fly away little bird
The saddest song I ever heard
Was the one that I wrote you in my heart
That never made it to the world
Any place in this open mouthed world
Begs to be fed like a bed that beckons you, but you won't rest
Everyone's got a need to go
Most of us stick with our row to hoe
But not you, you're the black crow
With a straight line, and no time
For the birds of prey who wreck your nest
Twice your size steal your best
They set you on this course of your collision
I am a stop along your way
I am the words you'll never say
I crossed the great beyond of fear
I opened my eyes and saw us there, what a view
You went there too
Fly away little bird
Find the song in you that no one's heard
Strenghthen your wings as you sing your solo flight
Through this short life
Everyone's got a deep regret
We try to ground ourselves to forget
But your race to the end is neck and neck
You love them, you love them not
The birds of prey who wreck your nest,
Twice your size steal your best
They set you on this course of your collision
I am a stop along your way
I am the words you'll never say
I crossed the great beyond of fear
Opened my eyes and saw us there, what a view
And you went there too
But all along your chosen path are
Window panes and sheets of glass
That you won't see
You fly too fast
One day it will be over
Fly away little bird
The saddest song I ever heard
Was the one that I wrote you in my heart
That never made it to the world
Lyrics submitted by lollercoaster
Fly Away Lyrics as written by Emily Ann Saliers Amy Elizabeth Ray
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I don't know if my interpretation is connected in any way to the actual meaning, but this song stirs in me memories of an old friend with whom I attended high school. He was a senior and I was a sophomore. He was an international student from Europe. I was a pretty isolated and lonely teenager. We became good friends that year, did community service together, walked, talked, shared meals, and I was the last person to see him off at the airport at the end of the year when he went to return to his home country. Nearly 10 years later, I would travel to Europe for a short term job placement. I reached out to him to try to connect. We exchanged contact information. Three months after I landed and settled into life in Europe, I sent him a letter. What I got back in response was a letter from his brother informing me that my friend had taken his life around the time I had arrived.
This song, to me, is about my friend, who faced the world on his own, loving and then holding back, hurting and never really knowing whom to trust. There were people in his life to took away from him, I believe, who took advantage of him or took him for granted ... those birds of prey. When I sing this song along with Indigos, I sing to him, telling him to fly away and be free from this world of pain. I am glad that our paths crossed in this earthly life, that I was a stop along his way. Perhaps one day, we will meet again where we will enjoy the view together. But for now, because he is gone, I will never hear him utter my name, I am the words he'll never say. He did eventually hit the glass, when he took his life. He crashed. My deep sadness comes from the fact that I could not see him again to encourage him and be a good friend to him. I was too late. My saddest song was the one unsung and unheard by the one person in the world who needed to hear it the most.
I hope this was meaningful to someone out there. If you are hurting, you are not alone. I know there are lots of folks out there who bash people who say something about believing in God, but it is no reason to hold back my belief that God is real and is close to those who suffer. You are not alone. Blessings and peace. Thank you for reading.