"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.
If my life had a soundtrack it would be acoustic
With songs about the way I laugh
At my ability to love things that I can't have
If my life were a movie, it would be black and white
With still-frames in color and hue
The credits would say a simple phrase like
"You aren't what you say or what you do
So don't worry so much
Just get on with a life that you love"
I had a good day since I didn't die or have to wait
In any really long lines at the store
Me, I like to make music, you like to make war
There's a Calico kitten prancing across a rooftop
Smiling at the gray withered sky
He's watching all the cars as they pass by
Their blinkers go click, click, click
This new height makes him homesick
He misses his mother the most
And his long days by the window
They're long, long gone
If my life had a soundtrack it would be acoustic
With songs about the way I laugh
At my ability to lose everything that I have
Everything I have
Yeah, if my life were a movie, it would be black and white
With still-frames in color and hue
The credits would say a simple phrase like
"You aren't what you say or what you do
So don't worry so much
Just get on with a life that you love, a life that you love"
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
(It feels good to be alive again)
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
(I can finally see the sky again)
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
(It feels good to be alive again)
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
(I'm finally alright again)
If you're alright then I'm alright
With songs about the way I laugh
At my ability to love things that I can't have
If my life were a movie, it would be black and white
With still-frames in color and hue
The credits would say a simple phrase like
"You aren't what you say or what you do
So don't worry so much
Just get on with a life that you love"
I had a good day since I didn't die or have to wait
In any really long lines at the store
Me, I like to make music, you like to make war
There's a Calico kitten prancing across a rooftop
Smiling at the gray withered sky
He's watching all the cars as they pass by
Their blinkers go click, click, click
This new height makes him homesick
He misses his mother the most
And his long days by the window
They're long, long gone
If my life had a soundtrack it would be acoustic
With songs about the way I laugh
At my ability to lose everything that I have
Everything I have
Yeah, if my life were a movie, it would be black and white
With still-frames in color and hue
The credits would say a simple phrase like
"You aren't what you say or what you do
So don't worry so much
Just get on with a life that you love, a life that you love"
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
(It feels good to be alive again)
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
(I can finally see the sky again)
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
(It feels good to be alive again)
If you're alright then I'm alright
If you're alright then I'm alright
(I'm finally alright again)
If you're alright then I'm alright
Lyrics submitted by paramoreriot
Calico Kitten Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © TUNECORE INC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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i might be wrong, but i heard "you are what you say or what you do." the second time he sings it. and i think that fits better because the second time he's singing about sadder things.