"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.
I thought I saw you in the Battleship
But it was only a look alike
She was nothing but a vision trick
Under the warning light
She was close
Close enough to be your ghost
But my chances turned to toast
When I asked her if I could call her your name
I thought I saw you in the Rusty Hook
Huddled up in wicker chair
I wandered up for a closer look
And kissed whoever was sitting there
She was close
And she held me very tightly
'Til I asked awfully politely
"Please, can I call you her name?"
And I elongated my lift home
Yeah, I let him go the long way 'round
I smelt your scent on the seatbelt
And kept my shortcuts to myself
I thought I saw you in the Parrot's Beak
Messin' with the smoke alarm
It was too loud for me to hear her speak
And she had a broken arm
It was close
So close that the walls were wet
And she wrote it out in Letraset
"No, you can't call me her name"
Tell me, where's your hiding place?
I'm worried I'll forget your face
And I've asked everyone
I'm beginning to think I imagined you all along
I elongated my lift home
Yeah, I let him go the long way 'round
I smelt your scent on the seatbelt
And kept my shortcuts to myself
I saw your sister in the Cornerstone
On the phone to the middle man
When I saw that she was on her own
I thought she might understand
That she was close
Well, you couldn't get much closer
She said, "I'm really not supposed to, but yes
You can call me anything you want"
But it was only a look alike
She was nothing but a vision trick
Under the warning light
She was close
Close enough to be your ghost
But my chances turned to toast
When I asked her if I could call her your name
I thought I saw you in the Rusty Hook
Huddled up in wicker chair
I wandered up for a closer look
And kissed whoever was sitting there
She was close
And she held me very tightly
'Til I asked awfully politely
"Please, can I call you her name?"
And I elongated my lift home
Yeah, I let him go the long way 'round
I smelt your scent on the seatbelt
And kept my shortcuts to myself
I thought I saw you in the Parrot's Beak
Messin' with the smoke alarm
It was too loud for me to hear her speak
And she had a broken arm
It was close
So close that the walls were wet
And she wrote it out in Letraset
"No, you can't call me her name"
Tell me, where's your hiding place?
I'm worried I'll forget your face
And I've asked everyone
I'm beginning to think I imagined you all along
I elongated my lift home
Yeah, I let him go the long way 'round
I smelt your scent on the seatbelt
And kept my shortcuts to myself
I saw your sister in the Cornerstone
On the phone to the middle man
When I saw that she was on her own
I thought she might understand
That she was close
Well, you couldn't get much closer
She said, "I'm really not supposed to, but yes
You can call me anything you want"
Lyrics submitted by life_aint_chess
Cornerstone Lyrics as written by Alex Turner
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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."
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."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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 it's about a guy who has lost a girl, and is going out again trying to find a new girl who reminds him as close as possible to his ex;he still isn't totally over his ex. The "Battle Ship", "Rusty Hook", "Parrots Beak", and the "Cornerstone" are bars that he has been going to in search of a new love. At each one he finds a girl with mutual interest but he blows it everytime trying to make this girl a clone to his ex. I believe that it was a taxi taking him home from a bar in the 5th verse and let the driver take the long way home so he could have some extra time to inhale his ex's scent which he came across in the car. The last part about the sister, if you take it seriously, would be the cloest he could ever get to being with his ex again without actually being with her. I too think that there's something with the pirate references. Pirates are always on quests and journeys in hunt of theri long lost treasure.
"Can I call you her name" seems to work as "can I call you my lover" sorry if that's stating the obvious.<br /> <br /> "Messing with a smoke alarm" I think this means she was in a crowded dance club, waving arms in the air. (I've also heard this dance move referred to as "screwing in a light bulb".)<br /> <br /> "So close that the walls were wet" this reminds me of crowded dance clubs where it can get so hot & humid that condensed sweat drips from the ceiling & everyone/everything becomes saturated. <br /> <br /> "She wrote it in letraset" I think this is a poetic reference that can be literally translated as "sign language". IE she flipped him off with one or two fingers.<br /> Cheers Indiebopper for the wiki reference: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letraset<br /> <br /> My best guess as to why her scent was on the seatbelt: he and the original girl were in a relationship. They were in a cab riding back to his place. The relationship ended during the cabride, and she got out, leaving him to be consumed by his thoughts, and willingly haunted by her scent. ...Possibly the last time he saw her.<br /> <br /> After many unsuccessful attempts to replace his heart's lost love, in desperation he withdraws from the quest and seeks comfort by attempting to recreate that love with a prostitute. She is initially uncomfortable with what he wants because it's unprofessional to be affectionate, in the same way that a prostitute "is really not supposed to" kiss clients on the lips (as we all know from watching the Julia Roberts movie 'Pretty Woman'). But this hooker must like him, or feel sorry for him, because she agrees to make love / act like his lover.<br /> <br /> Thanks to Hampton90 & others who suggested the pirate-ish names of the pubs are a reference to adventurous quest for lost treasure, while the Cornerstone where he ends up refers more to a fallback / retreat to a lower path. I love that!<br /> <br /> BTW GREAT Band! ...But I hope their next album is a bit more optimistic about love & romance. Their previous offerings had charming touches of romantic innocence and themes of cheeky idealism in a less-than-ideal world, but with Humbug romantic ideals take a much bleaker perspective, as with this song. Cheer up lads it's not all bad! :)