"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.
He gambles on the saddle
He's pulling on the mane
He thrashes on the horse's back
Ambition is a bloody game
Horse doesn't want to jump
The river looks too wide
Well he faces every hurdle
With a nervous state of mind
Stay with me, breathe deeply
Take three passes back
Turn and make a full attack
The gods are laughing
And they're tugging at the reins
But he's taken to his wings
And they hit the bank
Heaven may stone him
But jean the birdman pulls it off
His finger's on the trigger
His eye is on the clock
He doesn't give the game away
And quickly fires the bullets off
Six hearts cut short
Still dreaming they're alive
Blown 'round in dusty circles
Like an absent state of mind
Who hunter? who victim?
God love America
He surely doesn't love him
Hitching out of nowhere
Lines of traffic knee deep
A chance to stave the morning off
And get some sleep
Heaven may stone him
But jean the birdman pulls it off
He wears a crucifix
His mother left to him
It's wrapped in chains around his heart
Rusted and wafer thin
Don't count on luck son
All the angels sing
Don't need to check a weathervane
We all know what tomorrow brings
Life is a cattle farm
Coyotes with the mules
Life is a bullring
For taking risks and flouting rules
Who needs a safety net
The world is open wide
Just look out for card sharks
And the danger signs
Heaven may stone him
But jean the birdman pulls it off
He's pulling on the mane
He thrashes on the horse's back
Ambition is a bloody game
Horse doesn't want to jump
The river looks too wide
Well he faces every hurdle
With a nervous state of mind
Stay with me, breathe deeply
Take three passes back
Turn and make a full attack
The gods are laughing
And they're tugging at the reins
But he's taken to his wings
And they hit the bank
Heaven may stone him
But jean the birdman pulls it off
His finger's on the trigger
His eye is on the clock
He doesn't give the game away
And quickly fires the bullets off
Six hearts cut short
Still dreaming they're alive
Blown 'round in dusty circles
Like an absent state of mind
Who hunter? who victim?
God love America
He surely doesn't love him
Hitching out of nowhere
Lines of traffic knee deep
A chance to stave the morning off
And get some sleep
Heaven may stone him
But jean the birdman pulls it off
He wears a crucifix
His mother left to him
It's wrapped in chains around his heart
Rusted and wafer thin
Don't count on luck son
All the angels sing
Don't need to check a weathervane
We all know what tomorrow brings
Life is a cattle farm
Coyotes with the mules
Life is a bullring
For taking risks and flouting rules
Who needs a safety net
The world is open wide
Just look out for card sharks
And the danger signs
Heaven may stone him
But jean the birdman pulls it off
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Jean the Birdman Lyrics as written by P. Gunn David Sylvian
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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