"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.
The way I feel sometimes its too hard to sit still
Things are so passionate times are so real
Sometimes I try an chill mellow down blowin smoke
Smile on my face but its really no joke
You feel it in the streets people breathe without hope
They goin' through the motion, they dimmin' down they focus
The focus gettin' clear and the light turn sharp
And the eyes go teary, the mind grow weary
I speak it so clearly sometimes ya don't hear me
I push it past the bass no nations gotta feel me
I feel it in my bones, black, I'm so wide awake
That I hardly ever sleep, my flows forever deep
And its volumes or scriptures when I breath on a beat
My presence speak volumes before I say a word
I'm every where penthouse pavement and curb
Cradle to the grave tall lead you onna shell
Universal ghetto life holla black you know it well
Quiet storm vital form pen pushed it right across
Mind is a vital force, high level right across
Shoulders the lions raw voice is the siren
I swing round ring out and bring down the tyrant
Shocked a small act could knock a giant lopsided
The world is so dangerous there's no need for fightin'
Suttins tryna hide like the struggle won't find 'em
And the sun bust through the clouds to clearly remind him
Everywhere penthouse pavement and curb
Cradle to the grave talk'll lead you on a shell
Universal ghetto life holla black you know it well
What it is
You know they know
What it is
We know y'all know
What is is
Ecstatic there it is
Huh
What it is
You know we know
What it is
They know y'all know
What it is
You don't know? Here it is
What it is
You know we know
What it is
They know y'all know
What it is
You don't know? Here it is
(And always on time and rockin' ya mind)
Sit and come relax riddle off the mac, its the patch
Imma soldier in the middle of Iraq
Well say about noonish commin' out the whip
And lookin at me curious, a young Iraqi kid (awww)
Carrying laundry, what's wrong G? Hungry?
No, gimme oil or get fuck out my country
And in Arabian barkin' other stuff
Till his moms come grab him and they walk off in a rush
I'm like surely hope that we can fix our differences soon (bye!)
White apples I'm breakin' on
You take everything why not just take the damn food like
I don't understand it, on another planet?
Fifty one of this stuff how I'm gunna manage?
And increasing the sentiment gentlemen
Gettin' down on that middle eastern instruments
Realized trappin' is crap
Walk over kicked one of my fabulous raps (la dee da dee)
Arab pure drop it well wished they Glad Wrap
Now the kid considered like an Elvis of Baghdad
Things are so passionate times are so real
Sometimes I try an chill mellow down blowin smoke
Smile on my face but its really no joke
You feel it in the streets people breathe without hope
They goin' through the motion, they dimmin' down they focus
The focus gettin' clear and the light turn sharp
And the eyes go teary, the mind grow weary
I speak it so clearly sometimes ya don't hear me
I push it past the bass no nations gotta feel me
I feel it in my bones, black, I'm so wide awake
That I hardly ever sleep, my flows forever deep
And its volumes or scriptures when I breath on a beat
My presence speak volumes before I say a word
I'm every where penthouse pavement and curb
Cradle to the grave tall lead you onna shell
Universal ghetto life holla black you know it well
Quiet storm vital form pen pushed it right across
Mind is a vital force, high level right across
Shoulders the lions raw voice is the siren
I swing round ring out and bring down the tyrant
Shocked a small act could knock a giant lopsided
The world is so dangerous there's no need for fightin'
Suttins tryna hide like the struggle won't find 'em
And the sun bust through the clouds to clearly remind him
Everywhere penthouse pavement and curb
Cradle to the grave talk'll lead you on a shell
Universal ghetto life holla black you know it well
What it is
You know they know
What it is
We know y'all know
What is is
Ecstatic there it is
Huh
What it is
You know we know
What it is
They know y'all know
What it is
You don't know? Here it is
What it is
You know we know
What it is
They know y'all know
What it is
You don't know? Here it is
(And always on time and rockin' ya mind)
Sit and come relax riddle off the mac, its the patch
Imma soldier in the middle of Iraq
Well say about noonish commin' out the whip
And lookin at me curious, a young Iraqi kid (awww)
Carrying laundry, what's wrong G? Hungry?
No, gimme oil or get fuck out my country
And in Arabian barkin' other stuff
Till his moms come grab him and they walk off in a rush
I'm like surely hope that we can fix our differences soon (bye!)
White apples I'm breakin' on
You take everything why not just take the damn food like
I don't understand it, on another planet?
Fifty one of this stuff how I'm gunna manage?
And increasing the sentiment gentlemen
Gettin' down on that middle eastern instruments
Realized trappin' is crap
Walk over kicked one of my fabulous raps (la dee da dee)
Arab pure drop it well wished they Glad Wrap
Now the kid considered like an Elvis of Baghdad
Lyrics submitted by Kuzyn, edited by Mellow_Harsher, Indican
Auditorium Lyrics as written by Dante Smith Otis Jackson
Lyrics © Ultra Tunes, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., EMPIRE PUBLISHING
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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awesome beat. awesome lyrics. great song
awesome beat. awesome lyrics. great song
I think this song is about rapping/performing and the effect it has on the rappers and the audience. Mos Def is rapping about the way he feels when he raps; it seems like it is an almost involuntary reaction to the world he lives in. Slick Rick's verse is a story about how he is being prejudged but when he performs the audience loves and appreciates him.
This is a better set of lyrics, less than mistakes than usual.....but what is "vegal", its listed twice, and honestly do you think that is what he is saying? I don't think it even is a word.
Maybe it's "vigil"?
The song is about the effect that other rappers have on people. The example those rappers set makes people judge the other guys the same way... Mos talks about himself as a lyricist but he is let down by the way people bring that fake shit into rap, he lets you know that he is on top of the game. Slick Rick is telling a story bout him as a soldier in Iraq, his interactions with the locals has him on the recieving end of their lack of trust for soldiers(Americans) and they show it verbally. Its all because of the bad examples other people set for him... At the end he hits them with a classic song winning their hearts after all.
I just wanted to add that the dialog that shows up about a minute before the song ends comes from the 1966 movie "The Battle of Algiers," which was once banned in France. The film portrayed the Algerian resistance movement against French colonial occupation. Many have noted the striking resemblance between those and more recent events.
pretty sure the line is "You take everything why not just take the damn food BLACK MASTAH" which is why he (a black soldier) says "I don't understand it, on another planet!?!?!"
The irony of being the colonizer, the oppressed being the oppressor.
Buying apples, I'm breakin' [?]<br /> You take everything why not just take the damn food black master!?<br /> I don't understand it, on another planet?<br /> Fifty months of this stuff how I'm gunna manage?
Buying apples, I'm breakin' [?]<br /> You take everything why not just take the damn food black master!?<br /> I don't understand it, on another planet?<br /> Fifty months of this stuff how I'm gunna manage?
Buying apples, I'm breakin' [?]<br /> You take everything why not just take the damn food black master!?<br /> I don't understand it, on another planet?<br /> Fifty months of this stuff how I'm gunna manage?