"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.
You could mess up my life in a poem
Have me divorced by the time of the chorus
There's no need to change any sentence
When you always decide where I go next
Many nights you would hide from the audience
When they were not in tune with your progress
In the end you're a fool like the journalist
Who turns what you sing into business
You could use to be more like a hero
A darker shade of damage distortion
Wearing death like a cape or a costume
Cut your ties and leave town when you want to
Killing time 'til I pass through the chamber
Or the room you keep my replacement
so fed up, still you're starving on paper
You're no him, but he's you, only better
Leave me an exit to damage
I could use a ledge to jump off of
I wasn't lying when I said this was over
I have questions that lead to more questions
Running time that will cut off my fingers
You wrote about me on every new record
And I'll show up in a title of your song
I only hope somebody requests it
What's it like for you in Washington
I've only seen photos of Washington
I'll never know
Leave me Manhattan, I want the evergreens
Write me a song I can sing in my sleep
As sure as the rain that will fall where you stand
I want you and the skyline, these are my demands
What's it like for you in Washington
I've only seen photos of Washington
I'll never know, know
Have me divorced by the time of the chorus
There's no need to change any sentence
When you always decide where I go next
Many nights you would hide from the audience
When they were not in tune with your progress
In the end you're a fool like the journalist
Who turns what you sing into business
You could use to be more like a hero
A darker shade of damage distortion
Wearing death like a cape or a costume
Cut your ties and leave town when you want to
Killing time 'til I pass through the chamber
Or the room you keep my replacement
so fed up, still you're starving on paper
You're no him, but he's you, only better
Leave me an exit to damage
I could use a ledge to jump off of
I wasn't lying when I said this was over
I have questions that lead to more questions
Running time that will cut off my fingers
You wrote about me on every new record
And I'll show up in a title of your song
I only hope somebody requests it
What's it like for you in Washington
I've only seen photos of Washington
I'll never know
Leave me Manhattan, I want the evergreens
Write me a song I can sing in my sleep
As sure as the rain that will fall where you stand
I want you and the skyline, these are my demands
What's it like for you in Washington
I've only seen photos of Washington
I'll never know, know
Lyrics submitted by springbreak93, edited by gongniu
Working Titles Lyrics as written by Damien Jurado
Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Bee Gees
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@[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.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Beautiful, amazing love song. It's from the point of view of a bitter, probably jilted ex-lover of a travelling musician -- whether that's Jurado himself isn't that important. But I love the turn. It gets increasingly more bitter ("You're no him, but he's you only better") until a sudden lull and a curious change of heart ("...What's it like, for you, in Washington?")
The subject isn't really over everthing ... he/she can still be pulled in by the romanticizing of the life, of the travel, the big wide world outside of Manhattan...
I see this being about a songwriter he met along the way. This songwriter is also a fan, but has a superficial quality. This person turns around to write songs about Damien not really knowing Damien's motivation (for writing songs).
I think it is a critique of a someone playing music for fame and glory instead of how I see Damien approach as being more for art's sake and personal expression.
The end he pays homage to Seattle. In contrast, Manhattan is a place where many aspiring songwriters go to "make it big." This contrast exemplifies the difference between Damien's approach to the business of music and the subjects and how that person longs for what Damien has.
My take.. Beautiful song.
In the end you're a fool like the journalist Who turns what you sing into business
should be
Who turns what she's seen into business