"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.
"Is this the train to Desert Moon?" was all she said
but I knew I'd heard that stranger's voice before.
I turned to look into her eyes, but she moved away
She was standing in the rain
Trying hard to speak my name
They say first love never runs dry
The waiter poured our memories in a tiny cup
We stumbled over words we longed to hear
We talked about the dreams we'd lost, or given up
When the whistle caught the night
And shook silence from my life
As the last train rolled toward the moon
Those summer nights
When we were young
We bragged of things
We'd never done
We were dreamers, only dreamers
And in our haste
To grow up too soon
We left our innocence on Desert Moon
We were dreamers, only dreamers
On Desert Moon
On Desert Moon
On Desert Moon
Desert Moon
I still can hear the whisper of the summer nights
It echoes in the corners of my heart
The night we stood waiting for the desert train
All the words we meant to say
All the chances swept away
Still remain on the road to undo
Those summer nights, when we were young
We bragged of things we'd never done
We were dreamers, only dreamers
Moments pass, and time moves on
But dreams remain for just as long as there's dreamers
All the dreamers
On Desert Moon
On Desert Moon
On Desert Moon
Desert Moon
but I knew I'd heard that stranger's voice before.
I turned to look into her eyes, but she moved away
She was standing in the rain
Trying hard to speak my name
They say first love never runs dry
The waiter poured our memories in a tiny cup
We stumbled over words we longed to hear
We talked about the dreams we'd lost, or given up
When the whistle caught the night
And shook silence from my life
As the last train rolled toward the moon
Those summer nights
When we were young
We bragged of things
We'd never done
We were dreamers, only dreamers
And in our haste
To grow up too soon
We left our innocence on Desert Moon
We were dreamers, only dreamers
On Desert Moon
On Desert Moon
On Desert Moon
Desert Moon
I still can hear the whisper of the summer nights
It echoes in the corners of my heart
The night we stood waiting for the desert train
All the words we meant to say
All the chances swept away
Still remain on the road to undo
Those summer nights, when we were young
We bragged of things we'd never done
We were dreamers, only dreamers
Moments pass, and time moves on
But dreams remain for just as long as there's dreamers
All the dreamers
On Desert Moon
On Desert Moon
On Desert Moon
Desert Moon
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'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."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
It is a great song about reconnecting with a person from your past that slipped away. The lyrics tell a story of a man at a train station presumably returning to his hometown (the "Desert Moon" of the title), perhaps for a holiday, and is addressed incidentally by a woman asking if it's the right train for his town. They simultaneously realize that they know each other, in fact they were high school sweethearts. She just happened to be returning there too, and they have met again as if by fate. They take the train together and reminisce in a dining car as the train leaves. It's implied that they may fall in love again, and the chorus layers in general nostalgia and lost innocence themes.
Then we get to the video.
It turns the whole story on its head and deconstructs it mercilessly. He comes to his hometown, arrives by himself, is greeted by friends/family. Something's distracting him, and at his first opportunity he asks after his old girlfriend and finds that she no longer lives there and moved to Chicago. So the story told by the lyrics? It's a fantasy he made up in his head. My own speculation follows -- when it came up that he was returning to Desert Moon, he regretted having lost contact with his old girlfriend, and daydreamed about randomly running into her again on the train home. It fits with how perfectly out of the blue it was, and how even the minute details were suffused with deeper symbolism: "The waiter poured our memories in a tiny cup". He built up his daydream into the perfect, most romantic moment he could imagine.
The whole time at the departing station he probably looked around for her, even though there was no reason to imagine she'd turn up. Finally he got on the train and headed home. Now starting to obsess, he decided maybe she still lived in Desert Moon and he'd look her up.
Back to what's actually in the video, after hearing the news, he's totally listless. He practically sleepwalks through being reunited with his family and oldest friends, not even being able to completely enjoy getting his classic Mustang from the old days going again. All he can think about now is finding her. He has a pretty good time with his buddies, but in the morning he's on a mission. So he gives his beloved car to his... friend? brother?... it isn't clear...and takes another train to Chicago (from an iconic station) to try and find her there.
A couple of thoughts come to mind--the song connects with me so much because I've had that fantasy before, of randomly meeting someone that used to be important to me, that parts of a lost past of unfinished stories can suddenly start again.
The second, and perhaps sadder thought: such a fantasy is now all but impossible. Not because you can't find old friends, but because it's too easy. In 2009 I got on Facebook and managed to reconnect with just about everyone from my past that I gave a damn about. It felt good but obviously didn't have the romantic sheen of random fate. Technology has rendered obsolete that entire genre of story except as a period piece--today's youths will rarely lose contact entirely with their childhood friends and loved ones, and almost never quite feel firsthand the emotions that inspired this song.