"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.
[Dutch]
Ben ik schuldig door te leven?
(“Am I guilty by living?”)
[German]
Wenn man lang genug in die spiegel schaut,
blickt man in die augen des teufels.
(“When you look in the mirror for long enough,
you stare into the eyes of the devil.”)
Slide down into the silence
Numb the day away
Move closer to a memory
Feel it slip away
Life shivers in the distance
Whisper it away
Your sun is smiling on my ashes
on this perfect day
(Shut down the guilt machine
and wash your conscience clean of yesterday)
Drown the ocean
Drain the sky
Wash the color from the sun
Still the thunder
Derail the Earth
Burn the stars out one by one
We come undone
[Polish:]
Nasze życie ma znaczenie tylko wtedy, gdy kochamy. Nieważne kogo, nieważne za co.
(“Our life is significant only when we love. No matter who, no matter for what.”)
Breathe deeply of your essence
Stir the scars beneath
Sing sweet a song so deathless
You belong to me
Life shivers in the distance
Wish it all away
Your sun is smiling on my ashes
on this perfect day
(Shut down the guilt machine
and wash your conscience clean of yesterday)
Drown the ocean
Drain the sky
Wash the color from the sun
Still the thunder
Derail the Earth
Burn the stars out one by one
We come undone
(We come undone – x7)
Accusations run astray inside the guilt machine
Turning tension’s twisted coil till nothing’s left of me
Words unspoken feed the lie
Smile and say you’re doing fine today
Conversation makes no sense, all logic stripped away
Situation’s out of hand in amber disarray
Words unspoken feed the lie
Another pill...you’re doing fine today
Did you dream of distant skies
and thirst to roam and wander?
Did you die silently inside?
Did you think you’d find the answer behind the light?
Did you think you’d find a way
to disconnect your favourite pain?
Disengage and justify to wash away the pain
Medicate and victimize to purge you pure again
Words unspoken feed the lie
Drink it down…you’re doing fine today
Something snaps at 4:05 one Friday afternoon
Turning tension’s twisted coil ‘till nothing’s left of you
Words unspoken seal the lie
One small step…you’ll soon be fine today
Did you dream of distant skies
and thirst to roam and wander?
Did you die silently inside?
Did you think you’d find the answer behind the light?
Did you think you’d find a way
to disconnect your favourite pain?
(x2)
Life shivers in the distance
Wish it all away
Your sun is smiling on my ashes
on this perfect day
(Shut down the guilt machine
and wash your conscience clean of yesterday)
Drown the ocean
Drain the sky
Wash the color from the sun
Still the thunder
Derail the Earth
Burn the stars out one by one
(x2)
Ben ik schuldig door te leven?
(“Am I guilty by living?”)
[German]
Wenn man lang genug in die spiegel schaut,
blickt man in die augen des teufels.
(“When you look in the mirror for long enough,
you stare into the eyes of the devil.”)
Slide down into the silence
Numb the day away
Move closer to a memory
Feel it slip away
Life shivers in the distance
Whisper it away
Your sun is smiling on my ashes
on this perfect day
(Shut down the guilt machine
and wash your conscience clean of yesterday)
Drown the ocean
Drain the sky
Wash the color from the sun
Still the thunder
Derail the Earth
Burn the stars out one by one
We come undone
[Polish:]
Nasze życie ma znaczenie tylko wtedy, gdy kochamy. Nieważne kogo, nieważne za co.
(“Our life is significant only when we love. No matter who, no matter for what.”)
Breathe deeply of your essence
Stir the scars beneath
Sing sweet a song so deathless
You belong to me
Life shivers in the distance
Wish it all away
Your sun is smiling on my ashes
on this perfect day
(Shut down the guilt machine
and wash your conscience clean of yesterday)
Drown the ocean
Drain the sky
Wash the color from the sun
Still the thunder
Derail the Earth
Burn the stars out one by one
We come undone
(We come undone – x7)
Accusations run astray inside the guilt machine
Turning tension’s twisted coil till nothing’s left of me
Words unspoken feed the lie
Smile and say you’re doing fine today
Conversation makes no sense, all logic stripped away
Situation’s out of hand in amber disarray
Words unspoken feed the lie
Another pill...you’re doing fine today
Did you dream of distant skies
and thirst to roam and wander?
Did you die silently inside?
Did you think you’d find the answer behind the light?
Did you think you’d find a way
to disconnect your favourite pain?
Disengage and justify to wash away the pain
Medicate and victimize to purge you pure again
Words unspoken feed the lie
Drink it down…you’re doing fine today
Something snaps at 4:05 one Friday afternoon
Turning tension’s twisted coil ‘till nothing’s left of you
Words unspoken seal the lie
One small step…you’ll soon be fine today
Did you dream of distant skies
and thirst to roam and wander?
Did you die silently inside?
Did you think you’d find the answer behind the light?
Did you think you’d find a way
to disconnect your favourite pain?
(x2)
Life shivers in the distance
Wish it all away
Your sun is smiling on my ashes
on this perfect day
(Shut down the guilt machine
and wash your conscience clean of yesterday)
Drown the ocean
Drain the sky
Wash the color from the sun
Still the thunder
Derail the Earth
Burn the stars out one by one
(x2)
Lyrics submitted by Eyden, edited by Octavarium64
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The first sound heard in this song is a analogue dual-tone dialing. Running it through a DTMF-decoder shows the phone number to be 180051212. Didn't show up in any searches, so I'm fairly sure no-one has checked this before. Probably doesn't mean anything either, but fun to see if there was a hidden message.
Not heard about that; I just messaged Arjen about this :)
Maybe put +31 in front of it. It's the national phonecode of the netherlands. This will make it a working number. Don't know if it's in use though, and too anxious to try myself.