"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.
Forty times you may question your life
Four to five with a hunting knife
Before you find out if you survive
Questioning marks have turned into stars
For the record you remember the few, yeah
Who for a second time you bid adieu
Forty days in the neon haze
Festering dreams are dressed in fakeries
You follow the skyway
You follow your right away
You follow the streets and the cars
And the shadows and the stars
All right,
Forty lessons you may hear from the sun, now
You never listened to a single one
Fallen leaves whisper like thieves
Not that you mind, you live on stolen time
You follow the skyway
You follow your right away
You follow the streets and the cars
And the shadows and the stars
Fist loaded with a furious disdain
Your velocity will be your shame
Fast motion like a curious flame
The best I can do is to turn my back on you
You follow the skyway
You follow your right away
You follow the streets and the cars
And the shadows and the stars
You follow the skyway
You follow your right away
You follow the streets and the cars
And the shadows and the stars
Streets and the cars
And the shadows and the stars
Four to five with a hunting knife
Before you find out if you survive
Questioning marks have turned into stars
For the record you remember the few, yeah
Who for a second time you bid adieu
Forty days in the neon haze
Festering dreams are dressed in fakeries
You follow the skyway
You follow your right away
You follow the streets and the cars
And the shadows and the stars
All right,
Forty lessons you may hear from the sun, now
You never listened to a single one
Fallen leaves whisper like thieves
Not that you mind, you live on stolen time
You follow the skyway
You follow your right away
You follow the streets and the cars
And the shadows and the stars
Fist loaded with a furious disdain
Your velocity will be your shame
Fast motion like a curious flame
The best I can do is to turn my back on you
You follow the skyway
You follow your right away
You follow the streets and the cars
And the shadows and the stars
You follow the skyway
You follow your right away
You follow the streets and the cars
And the shadows and the stars
Streets and the cars
And the shadows and the stars
Lyrics submitted by post.paint.girl
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I have no idea if I got these lyrics right, but I tried.
Anyway, I like this song...I'm kind of getting the idea that it's about someone who is questioning their life and what they have come to learn over the years. But now that this person is starting to realize that everything they've learned is fake ("Festering dreams are dressed in fakeries"), they're starting to find other people and ideas to listen to, ones that are turning them in the wrong direction and causing them to follow people that are getting them into trouble ("You follow the skyway...") instead of the people who will help them out ("Forty lessons you may hear from the sun, now / You never listened to a single one"). Now, the person who is writing the song is really upset about the way this other person has turned out ("Fist loaded with a furious disdain / Your velocity will be your shame"). He doesn't want to turn out like her/him, but he's starting to find that no matter how hard he tries, he alone can't help this person-- all he can do is turn away ("The best I can do is to turn my back on you").
I'm not sure what the significance of all the "forty"'s is, though.
I have no idea if I got these lyrics right, but I tried.
Anyway, I like this song...I'm kind of getting the idea that it's about someone who is questioning their life and what they have come to learn over the years. But now that this person is starting to realize that everything they've learned is fake ("Festering dreams are dressed in fakeries"), they're starting to find other people and ideas to listen to, ones that are turning them in the wrong direction and causing them to follow people that are getting them into trouble ("You follow the skyway...") instead of the people who will help them out ("Forty lessons you may hear from the sun, now / You never listened to a single one"). Now, the person who is writing the song is really upset about the way this other person has turned out ("Fist loaded with a furious disdain / Your velocity will be your shame"). He doesn't want to turn out like her/him, but he's starting to find that no matter how hard he tries, he alone can't help this person-- all he can do is turn away ("The best I can do is to turn my back on you").
I'm not sure what the significance of all the "forty"'s is, though.