"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.
Take me back Josephine
To that cold and dark December
I am missing someone but I don't know who
Now I'm standing alone and I'm trying to remember
Sometimes I wonder how I ever started loving you
Noontime wind can you blow
For me one more time
And take me on back to the start
Where the midnight moon shines so bright
Nearly pulled us up to Heaven
By the strings of our hearts
Take me back Josephine
To that cold and dark December
I am missing someone but I don't know who
Now I'm standing alone and I'm trying to remember
Sometimes I wonder how I ever started loving you
Morning sun shine on me
Come light inside my window
And rest on my brow
Kiss my eyes when I sleep
And carry me back home
If my dreams will allow
Take me back Josephine
To that cold and dark December
I am missing someone but I don't know who
Now I'm standing alone and I'm trying to remember
Sometimes I wonder how I ever started loving you
Take me back Josephine
To that cold and dark December
I am missing someone but I don't know who
Now I'm standing alone and I'm dying to remember
Sometimes I wonder how I ever started loving you
Will someone help me understand why I'm still loving you
To that cold and dark December
I am missing someone but I don't know who
Now I'm standing alone and I'm trying to remember
Sometimes I wonder how I ever started loving you
Noontime wind can you blow
For me one more time
And take me on back to the start
Where the midnight moon shines so bright
Nearly pulled us up to Heaven
By the strings of our hearts
Take me back Josephine
To that cold and dark December
I am missing someone but I don't know who
Now I'm standing alone and I'm trying to remember
Sometimes I wonder how I ever started loving you
Morning sun shine on me
Come light inside my window
And rest on my brow
Kiss my eyes when I sleep
And carry me back home
If my dreams will allow
Take me back Josephine
To that cold and dark December
I am missing someone but I don't know who
Now I'm standing alone and I'm trying to remember
Sometimes I wonder how I ever started loving you
Take me back Josephine
To that cold and dark December
I am missing someone but I don't know who
Now I'm standing alone and I'm dying to remember
Sometimes I wonder how I ever started loving you
Will someone help me understand why I'm still loving you
Lyrics submitted by wheresthelove024
Josephine Lyrics as written by Timothy Jay Hanseroth Brandi M. Carlile
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I came to this site hoping someone had already written their thoughts on the lyrics of this song, but it looks like I'll have to be the first.
Listening to the song made me wonder why this person can't understand why they ever started loving "Josephine". I got a little upset that someone would just outright say that they can't figure this out. It almost sounded accusatory and mean, but now reading the lyrics in my head makes me sympathize with the narrator rather than Josephine. It sounds to me like he/she is close to the end of his/her life. Maybe the memory is a bit fuzzy. This song, it seems, is telling the story of someone trying to account for moments spent with the love of their lives. It's sad... not to remember something so profound.