"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 audience was large and brilliant
Upon my weary heart was showered smiles, plaudits, and flowers
But beyond them, I saw thorns and troubles innumerable"
It was a pretty good GPA
We got a couple of good grades
And it sounded like a pretty good seven inch
And winter didn't seem so cold
And I had a smile for everyone I know
I was starting to get comfortable in the place that I'm in
And it used to not mean anything
It used to not mean anything
It used to not mean anything, but it really means nothing now
Nothing means anything anymore
Everything is less than zero
And I know it won't do much good
Getting drunk and sad and singing
But I'm at the end of my rope
And I feel like swinging
It was an unflattering photograph
And people saw it all over town
Hanging up in the wall above the urinal
Hear the man with the notepad say
"Yeah, they're funny, but they drink too much
Don't be surprised if they don't amount to nothing at all"
We were talking about giving up
We were talking about lying down
We were talking about tying off
Wasn't it supposed to mean something now?
Let them see you struggle and they're going to tear you apart
You ain't never been no virgin, kid, you were fucked from the start
They're all going to be laughing at you
They're all going to be laughing at you
You can't make it on merit, not on merit and merit alone
Dan McGee tried to tell me, "There ain't no more Rolling Stones"
They're all going to be laughing at you
They're all going to be laughing at you
I've been called out, cuckolded, castrated, but I survived
I am covered in urine and excrement but I'm alive
And there's a white flag in my pocket never to be unfurled
Though with their hands 'round my ankles, they bring me down for another swirl
And they tell me, "Take it easy, buddy, it's not the end of the world"
"And there and then and bathed by the rising sun
My son in his grave, in his rude-dug grave I deposited
Ending my vigil strange with that, vigil of night and battlefield dim
Vigil for boy of responding kisses, never again on earth responding
Vigil for comrade swiftly slain, vigil I never forget, how as day brighten'd
I rose from the chill ground and folded my soldier well in his blanket
And buried him where he fell"
Upon my weary heart was showered smiles, plaudits, and flowers
But beyond them, I saw thorns and troubles innumerable"
It was a pretty good GPA
We got a couple of good grades
And it sounded like a pretty good seven inch
And winter didn't seem so cold
And I had a smile for everyone I know
I was starting to get comfortable in the place that I'm in
And it used to not mean anything
It used to not mean anything
It used to not mean anything, but it really means nothing now
Nothing means anything anymore
Everything is less than zero
And I know it won't do much good
Getting drunk and sad and singing
But I'm at the end of my rope
And I feel like swinging
It was an unflattering photograph
And people saw it all over town
Hanging up in the wall above the urinal
Hear the man with the notepad say
"Yeah, they're funny, but they drink too much
Don't be surprised if they don't amount to nothing at all"
We were talking about giving up
We were talking about lying down
We were talking about tying off
Wasn't it supposed to mean something now?
Let them see you struggle and they're going to tear you apart
You ain't never been no virgin, kid, you were fucked from the start
They're all going to be laughing at you
They're all going to be laughing at you
You can't make it on merit, not on merit and merit alone
Dan McGee tried to tell me, "There ain't no more Rolling Stones"
They're all going to be laughing at you
They're all going to be laughing at you
I've been called out, cuckolded, castrated, but I survived
I am covered in urine and excrement but I'm alive
And there's a white flag in my pocket never to be unfurled
Though with their hands 'round my ankles, they bring me down for another swirl
And they tell me, "Take it easy, buddy, it's not the end of the world"
"And there and then and bathed by the rising sun
My son in his grave, in his rude-dug grave I deposited
Ending my vigil strange with that, vigil of night and battlefield dim
Vigil for boy of responding kisses, never again on earth responding
Vigil for comrade swiftly slain, vigil I never forget, how as day brighten'd
I rose from the chill ground and folded my soldier well in his blanket
And buried him where he fell"
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Fast Car
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At the end of the song there is a piece from a Walt Whitman poem:
"And there and then and bathed by the rising sun, my son in his grave, in his rude-dug grave I deposited, Ending my vigil strange with that, vigil of night and battle-field dim, Vigil for boy of responding kisses, (never again on earth responding,) Vigil for comrade swiftly slain, vigil I never forget, how as day brighten’d, I rose from the chill ground and folded my soldier well in his blanket, And buried him where he fell."
read by craig finn from the hold steady.