"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.
Sometimes I don't know what to think about the world
When this guy is burnin' up in the street with gasoline
And the flames show no mercy
So when you really need someone to talk to you
It doesn't always work like it's supposed to
You can love yer brain
Even if it slips down the drain
Man, I'm not no drug addict
But a person's gotta have something
To keep him from going insane
Well, this man kills this other man
Who's killed this other man, so it's okay
And this fourteen year old's sittin' in the electric chair
Smilin' and smokin' a cigarette
So I guess I was right all along readin' Mad magazine
When this guy is burnin' up in the street with gasoline
And the flames show no mercy
So when you really need someone to talk to you
It doesn't always work like it's supposed to
You can love yer brain
Even if it slips down the drain
Man, I'm not no drug addict
But a person's gotta have something
To keep him from going insane
Well, this man kills this other man
Who's killed this other man, so it's okay
And this fourteen year old's sittin' in the electric chair
Smilin' and smokin' a cigarette
So I guess I was right all along readin' Mad magazine
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
Love Yer Brain Lyrics as written by Richard English Michael Ivins
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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This one of my favorite flaming lips songs, which makes it one of my favorite songs overall.
The first line is delivered with such heartbreaking fragility, and really makes me think about another one of my favorite opening lyrics from the velvet underground's 'heroin': "I don't know just where I'm going But I'm gonna try for the kingdom, if I can 'Cause it makes me feel like I'm a man When I put a spike into my vein And I'll tell ya, things aren't quite the same When I'm rushing on my run And I feel just like Jesus' son And I guess that I just don't know" These both make me feel about being at the brink of adulthood, there are so many possibilities of what to do with your life that it makes you freeze up. You don't know what path to take. Not surprisingly, both these are off of the first albums from these bands, when both wayne coyne and lou reed were at that very age. And both songs seem to suggest drugs as a way to deal with this terrifying indecision. "man, i'm not no drug addict, but a person's gotta have something to keep him from going insane."
"love yer brain" seems to be more philosophical, dealing with an inability to make sense of the world. Wayne talks about violent images of the street on fire and alienation, not knowing who to turn to in order to recieve direction at this juncture. "when you really need someone to talk to you, it doesn't always work like it's supposed to" saying that maybe the system is breaking down, maybe he's not meant to be a college boy and take the path through the system that most people choose. he's still philosophically undecided, unable to reconcile the notions of good and evil that have been taught to him with what he sees going on in the world, which is what i think he's saying in the line "Well, this man kills this other man, Who's killed this other man, so it's okay."
In the end, he decides that the world is a crazy place and it's going to drive him crazy as well, so he may as well come to terms with it. "so i guess i was right all along reading Mad magazine" Kickass song, love yer brain.
Taking refuge in your mind and exploring therein, in response to the crazy world outside.
I love Beatles in the background at the end "turn off your mind relax" repeating over and over.