"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.
In through your window the sky will fall.
You'll trap the stars in jars and line them along your walls.
As the moonlight fills the veins beneath your skin,
You'll hear us knocking, oh, but you won't let us in.
Because you've got no friends,
And you've got no heartbeat.
Your insides are rotten now.
So there's nothing to fix.
But you said it often, before you were lost,
That it's only a day. That it's only a day.
But now you're a monster, and your backbone is soft.
Because you threw it away. Because you threw it away.
You called me out; I shrugged you off.
I don't have the time to watch you bash in all their skulls.
'cause there's a new boss in town, his heart is black, but his hands can reach through anything.
Stick your head in the ground. You might just dodge the guns.
But I'm not your friend.
And I will not fix you.
My insides are hollow now.
So you're all on your own.
But I said it often, before we were lost.
That it's only a day. That it's only a day.
But now I'm a monster, and my blood all runs cold.
Because I threw it away. Because I threw it away.
But now we've forgotten. And we've sold our blue skies.
But there's nothing to say. We'll be gone in a day.
And yeah, you can't take it with you. But I can sure as hell try.
Now there's nothing to say. I'll be gone in a day.
You'll trap the stars in jars and line them along your walls.
As the moonlight fills the veins beneath your skin,
You'll hear us knocking, oh, but you won't let us in.
Because you've got no friends,
And you've got no heartbeat.
Your insides are rotten now.
So there's nothing to fix.
But you said it often, before you were lost,
That it's only a day. That it's only a day.
But now you're a monster, and your backbone is soft.
Because you threw it away. Because you threw it away.
You called me out; I shrugged you off.
I don't have the time to watch you bash in all their skulls.
'cause there's a new boss in town, his heart is black, but his hands can reach through anything.
Stick your head in the ground. You might just dodge the guns.
But I'm not your friend.
And I will not fix you.
My insides are hollow now.
So you're all on your own.
But I said it often, before we were lost.
That it's only a day. That it's only a day.
But now I'm a monster, and my blood all runs cold.
Because I threw it away. Because I threw it away.
But now we've forgotten. And we've sold our blue skies.
But there's nothing to say. We'll be gone in a day.
And yeah, you can't take it with you. But I can sure as hell try.
Now there's nothing to say. I'll be gone in a day.
Lyrics submitted by Mechanical Bird
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Fast Car
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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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--It seems to me its telling a story of how your friend basicly fell apart. <br /> <br /> In through your window the sky will fall.<br /> You'll trap the stars in jars and line them along your walls.<br /> As the moonlight fills the veins beneath your skin,<br /> You'll hear us knocking, oh, but you won't let us in.<br /> --a friend of the theirs gets depressed<br /> --stays inside and traps "stars", hopes and dreams, in a jar<br /> --"the moonlight fills the veins beneath your skin" means that they stay up a lot and probably do nothing during the day.<br /> --they see their friends trying to see whats going on but ignore it <br /> <br /> Because you've got no friends,<br /> And you've got no heartbeat.<br /> Your insides are rotten now.<br /> So there's nothing to fix.<br /> --self explainitory<br /> --they don't care anymore.<br /> --they have a bad personality and don't care about being friends <br /> --so there's nothing to fix<br /> <br /> But you said it often, before you were lost,<br /> That it's only a day. That it's only a day.<br /> But now you're a monster, and your backbone is soft.<br /> Because you threw it away. Because you threw it away.<br /> --used to have a different view<br /> --friend used to be optimistic and still try<br /> --they turned out bad and now they have no "backbone"<br /> <br /> You called me out; I shrugged you off.<br /> I don't have the time to watch you bash in all their skulls.<br /> 'cause there's a new boss in town, his heart is black, but his hands can reach through anything.<br /> Stick your head in the ground. You might just dodge the guns.<br /> --they eventually tried to fix the relationship they had, person no longer cared<br /> --they were still the same<br /> --either talking about the friend or themself.<br /> <br /> But I'm not your friend.<br /> And I will not fix you.<br /> My insides are hollow now.<br /> So you're all on your own.<br /> --they got hurt real bad, moved on from being friends, so they didn't wanna try again.<br /> <br /> But I said it often, before we were lost.<br /> That it's only a day. That it's only a day.<br /> But now I'm a monster, and my blood all runs cold.<br /> Because I threw it away. Because I threw it away.<br /> --because of what happened they are in the same state now. probally the both of them were really close.<br /> <br /> But now we've forgotten. And we've sold our blue skies.<br /> But there's nothing to say. We'll be gone in a day.<br /> And yeah, you can't take it with you. But I can sure as hell try.<br /> Now there's nothing to say. I'll be gone in a day.<br /> --not sure
I dunno. Doesn't seem like its about drugs to me. o_o would make more sense if it hinted to it a lil.