"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.
And my confession would have you on the floor
If you knew the truth
But that's the way they want you -
Everyone's a sucker for the haze of youth
We're all prairie children, brought up on the lies of the past
So it's no surprise then - you will have to ask....
Watch out Billie 'fore you go to fast
You say it couldn't hurt, but then it couldn't last
You get fifteen minutes while they're watching you
You better hold your breath and hope your dreams come true.
Watch out girl you'll never be the same
If it's a cruel world you gotta play the game
You get fifteen minutes while they know your face
You'd better pray to God you win the human race.
I'm like the weather, burning up to fire, burning up to ice.
But I'm deathly certain the little things we love shouldn't be denied
We get fed something, but we don't want it,
We won't live our life with lies
You want your own heaven that you'll make better,
You just want your own life.
Watch out Billie 'fore you go too fast
You say it couldn't hurt, but then it couldn't last
You get fifteen minutes while they're watching you
You better hold your breath and hope your dreams come true.
Watch out girl you'll never be the same
If it's a cruel world you gotta play the game
You get fifteen minutes while they know your face
You'd better pray to God you win the human race.
If you knew the truth
But that's the way they want you -
Everyone's a sucker for the haze of youth
We're all prairie children, brought up on the lies of the past
So it's no surprise then - you will have to ask....
Watch out Billie 'fore you go to fast
You say it couldn't hurt, but then it couldn't last
You get fifteen minutes while they're watching you
You better hold your breath and hope your dreams come true.
Watch out girl you'll never be the same
If it's a cruel world you gotta play the game
You get fifteen minutes while they know your face
You'd better pray to God you win the human race.
I'm like the weather, burning up to fire, burning up to ice.
But I'm deathly certain the little things we love shouldn't be denied
We get fed something, but we don't want it,
We won't live our life with lies
You want your own heaven that you'll make better,
You just want your own life.
Watch out Billie 'fore you go too fast
You say it couldn't hurt, but then it couldn't last
You get fifteen minutes while they're watching you
You better hold your breath and hope your dreams come true.
Watch out girl you'll never be the same
If it's a cruel world you gotta play the game
You get fifteen minutes while they know your face
You'd better pray to God you win the human race.
Lyrics submitted by Wunderkind92
Watch Out Billie Lyrics as written by Nerina Pallot Jeremy Stacey
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"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."
Mountain Song
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"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"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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Page
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"We're all prairie children brought up on the lies of the past"- so true, I think she's saying how our opinions and the way we see the world is influenced by the things we are told in our childhood. Perhaps, in this context, it means how we are told of fame (and it being good) and famous people and, therefore, want to be like them- like Billie did.
Some of the lyrics seem to be applicable to more than the perils or the pursuit of fame. Like, "we get fed something, but we don't want", I feel that this is very honest, how people always seem to want what they cannot have and when they are offered something, which is may be good, they turn it down in the hope of something better ("own heaven").
Whilst the song hosts some good ideas, it doesn't have quite such a good sound. Although I suppose the poppiness is fitting, it's a little false cheery, pointing out that fame might seem enticing but it's not as easy as it looks. This song, in my opinion, is so much more subtle than another song with the same theme- "When I Grow Up" by the Pussycat Dolls.