"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.
Mention a name, we know (we know)
Appear tame, it shows (it shows)
Please don't feign, the ropes (the ropes)
Always the same, I know (I know)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Go on, let it go, it doesn't mean a thing
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Chance is on nothing changing
There's no time, to go (to go)
Through the designs, we know (we know)
Never mind, although (although)
Maybe this time, we'll grow (we'll grow)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Go on, let it go, it doesn't mean a thing
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Chance is on nothing changing
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Go on, let it go, it doesn't mean a thing
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Chance is on nothing changing
Appear tame, it shows (it shows)
Please don't feign, the ropes (the ropes)
Always the same, I know (I know)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Go on, let it go, it doesn't mean a thing
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Chance is on nothing changing
There's no time, to go (to go)
Through the designs, we know (we know)
Never mind, although (although)
Maybe this time, we'll grow (we'll grow)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Go on, let it go, it doesn't mean a thing
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Chance is on nothing changing
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Go on, let it go, it doesn't mean a thing
(I'm cheerleading myself, I shouldn't really matter)
Chance is on nothing changing
Lyrics submitted by rainandrev, edited by TheGoodBad, museum, v8pluver, goddamnboxes
Cheerleader Lyrics as written by Edward Droste Christopher Bear
Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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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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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
I think this song is about relationships, self-sabatouge....how putting rules on love only kills it. Or just about life in general...trying to predict the future/control it/plan it...and how the more you try to control life, the more you miss the point, and the more miserably you live...because the only thing you can control in life is yourself.
The first verse reminds me of how we attempt to pretend that everything is perfect even if it is not, and the monotony of that. "Mention a name, appear tame, please don't feign (fake it), always the same..."
"Chance and sow" are the two ways that anything occurs. Either by chance, or by planning...or "sowing" seeds...but even through what might seem like change, it all ends up the same... "Nothing changing" (different people or situations, but the same inherent patterns/habits/feelings).
The next verse makes me think of the emphasis so many put on time "There's no time, to go. Through the designs, we know"...deadlines...etc...instead of letting something naturally take its course. Trying to force something before it is ready. In the end realizing it is not the way to go about it and hoping to remember and learn for next time...."Never mind, although. Maybe this time, we'll grow"
"I'm shooting them myself, I should've made it matter" This to me is regret for going about it all wrong. "Shooting" or basically ruining something pure by putting societies pressures on it...and realizing that to just "Let it go" would have been more successful.
I think it's called Cheerleader, to remind us all to just let go and live life...to cheer us along in not making the mistakes mentioned in the song.