"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.
You say you know just who I am
But you can't imagine
What waits for you across the line
You thought you had me
But I'm still here standing
And I'm tired of backing down
And I'm here now feeling the pain
Of a thousand hearts
Been to hell and back again
I won't take this
You try so hard to bring me down
You can't break the broken
You still don't seem to understand
It's your turn to see just
How it feels to be me
How it feels to be knocked down
And you're here now feeling the pain
Of a thousand hearts
You've been to hell and back again
You can't take this
Remember
This feeling
How it feels to be alive
Now you see me through my eyes
And we're here now feeling the beat
Of a thousand hearts
Coming back to life again
We can make it
Remember
This feeling
Remember...
But you can't imagine
What waits for you across the line
You thought you had me
But I'm still here standing
And I'm tired of backing down
And I'm here now feeling the pain
Of a thousand hearts
Been to hell and back again
I won't take this
You try so hard to bring me down
You can't break the broken
You still don't seem to understand
It's your turn to see just
How it feels to be me
How it feels to be knocked down
And you're here now feeling the pain
Of a thousand hearts
You've been to hell and back again
You can't take this
Remember
This feeling
How it feels to be alive
Now you see me through my eyes
And we're here now feeling the beat
Of a thousand hearts
Coming back to life again
We can make it
Remember
This feeling
Remember...
Lyrics submitted by rabidbunny
Anthem for the Underdog Lyrics as written by Anthony Mccoy Aaron Joseph Gainer
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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I think this song is about christ and his resurection after he is crucified. you thought you had me but I'm still here standing. i think parts also deal with his time on the cross and what people thought after he came back. And you're here now feeling the pain of a thousand hearts you've been to hell and back again you can't take this. And toward the end its the feeling he'll hopefully have after the apocalypse. And we're here now feeling the beat of a thousand hearts coming back to life again we can make it.