"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.
Another rose wilts in East Harlem
And uptown downtown a thousand miles between us
She's waiting for the night to fall
Let it fall, I'll never make it in time
Let it fall, I'll never make it in time
Let it fall, I'll never make it in time
Sound is the colour I know, oh,
Sound is what keeps me looking for your eyes,
And sound of your breath in the cold,
And oh, the sound will bring me home again.
And oh, the sound will bring me home again.
And uptown downtown a thousand miles between us
She's waiting for the night to fall
Let it fall, I'll never make it in time
Let it fall, I'll never make it in time
Let it fall, I'll never make it in time
Sound is the colour I know, oh,
Sound is what keeps me looking for your eyes,
And sound of your breath in the cold,
And oh, the sound will bring me home again.
And oh, the sound will bring me home again.
Lyrics submitted by afrolady213
East Harlem Lyrics as written by Zach Condon
Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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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.
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this song is just lovely.
I couldn't love this song more if I tried.
Love this song! Seriously, Zach can write the best ever:)
zach must have changed the lyrics. in the official recorded version and on here they're different than the audio i listen to.
if there was ever a perfect swaying back and forth song...
Gotta love this song. As a New Yorker, I think I partly understand what he's saying. Zach Condon lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. To a new yorker, going from Brooklyn all the way up to Harlem, uptown to downtown and vise-versa, almost feels like a thousand miles! I live in Brooklyn and whenever I go to the Bronx it feels like going to the other side of the world! At least in our little world of nyc. That's a more literal interpretation, but to be more figurative, I feel like he's saying how different a neighborhood it is from where Zach lives. The culture and people are a lot different. The girl he talks about lives "a thousand miles away" both literally (sort of) and figuratively. She "wilts" because Harlem is generally a poor neighborhood where crime is common. When he says "I'll never make it in time" it reminds me of taking the subway for an hour and switching between various trains to meet my friends on time who live in upper Manhattan and the Bronx (with subway delays and such on the side!) and always being late and rushing to get to the other side of the city! I think it also may have to do with the harlem renaissance as well, a time where the arts flourished in Harlem, especially in black culture. This is because because he talks about sounds and color in the song :) Just my interpretation! Its a beautiful song!