"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.
Hey hey hey, know what I heard?
Beauty's only skin deep, ugly is to the bone
Back in the days, I'm not gonna lie
They used to say I'm ugly, a hurting guy
They would crack on my lips, and my powder
Saying I look like yuck without the house or ?Wig Howard?
From junior high to high school they thought I was retarded
Just because the way I looked, they said I farted
I was very very sad and you wonder why
Because my looks and my gear wasn't ultra fly
I wouldn't even attempt to ask a girl out
'Cause she get around her friends and began to shout"
"Guess who asked me out to the movies girlfriend
It was Mark, I told him if the world would end"
But my parents told me beauty's only skin deep
If that's true then why do girls think that I'm a creep?
I even joined the football team to get some recognition
But that didn't spark the key in a girl's ignition
They said I'm so ugly I give Anican a headache
Aw man, that is the icing on the cake!
So I kick this to all the girls from houses to huts
I don't care what you think, cause you all are nuts
[Repeat x2]
I'm an ugly nigga, so what?
If you don't like the way I look, you can kiss my butt
I'm an ugly nigga, so what? So what? Ewwwww
I'm a tell you story that's really bugged
About a guy with a Benz and he's dealing drugs
In the beginning before he got his riches
He was so ugly, he gave me the itches
I mean, if you see him, you think I might be kooky
But homeboy looked like, um, God-zooky
I used to crack and joke and say he looked like a star
And everybody laughed when I said "Mon-star"
I can't laugh now because it's a new decade
My guzu-friend got the girls and got it made
I guess having jewels, having money, having a vehicle
Makes you sexy, handsome, gorgeous, and adorable
When you're spending money, giving girls what they want
Behind your back they talk about you say you're ugly and you front
Why do you go to bed with someone that you don't like
Just because they got a nice car like Reverend Ike
It would be wrong if he heard what you're thinking
Thinking that he look like, um, Stinking Jenkins
But let me tell you a secret, he has ESP
And this is what he whispered in my ear to me
[Repeat x2]
I'm an ugly nigga, so what?
Just because I got loot, that's why you give me the butt?
I'm an ugly nigga, so what? So what?
Let me tell you how poor I was
Dome to the doo, and doo to the dome
For the dome I go to school and for the doo I use a comb
Now people always ask how are these things known
'Cause the dome does the doing for things that are done at home
That's why I keep a pick in my knappy fro
And for lunch I eat Ragu with my sloppy Joe
But at night I be starving, like Messy Marvin
I get cheap and go settle for the White Castle bargain
They offer me a lot in the army
But I'd rather get it second hand from the Salvation Army
'Cause times are getting harder than boot camp
Man I'm so poor I need to print my face on a food stamp
So if my hooptie breaks down, I just have to suffer
And tell Minekie "I'm not gonna pay a lot for this muffler!"
So I keep clear thoughts as the weeks run
But even on the beaches, they call me a beach bum
Something ain't right with me, and that really frightens me
'Cause nowadays girls don't even like to sprighten me
Some say I'm embarassing, but I got some comparison
Like if I was on TV, I would be Oscar Madison
Is there another like me? Only God knows
Man I should even rap in church cause I wear holy clothes
But for now I'm just going to do the strut
And this is what I say to girls from houses to huts
[Repeat x2]
I'm an ugly nigga, so what?
Just because I'm poor, that's why you won't give me the butt?
I'm an ugly nigga, so what? So what?
Beauty's only skin deep, ugly is to the bone
Back in the days, I'm not gonna lie
They used to say I'm ugly, a hurting guy
They would crack on my lips, and my powder
Saying I look like yuck without the house or ?Wig Howard?
From junior high to high school they thought I was retarded
Just because the way I looked, they said I farted
I was very very sad and you wonder why
Because my looks and my gear wasn't ultra fly
I wouldn't even attempt to ask a girl out
'Cause she get around her friends and began to shout"
"Guess who asked me out to the movies girlfriend
It was Mark, I told him if the world would end"
But my parents told me beauty's only skin deep
If that's true then why do girls think that I'm a creep?
I even joined the football team to get some recognition
But that didn't spark the key in a girl's ignition
They said I'm so ugly I give Anican a headache
Aw man, that is the icing on the cake!
So I kick this to all the girls from houses to huts
I don't care what you think, cause you all are nuts
[Repeat x2]
I'm an ugly nigga, so what?
If you don't like the way I look, you can kiss my butt
I'm an ugly nigga, so what? So what? Ewwwww
I'm a tell you story that's really bugged
About a guy with a Benz and he's dealing drugs
In the beginning before he got his riches
He was so ugly, he gave me the itches
I mean, if you see him, you think I might be kooky
But homeboy looked like, um, God-zooky
I used to crack and joke and say he looked like a star
And everybody laughed when I said "Mon-star"
I can't laugh now because it's a new decade
My guzu-friend got the girls and got it made
I guess having jewels, having money, having a vehicle
Makes you sexy, handsome, gorgeous, and adorable
When you're spending money, giving girls what they want
Behind your back they talk about you say you're ugly and you front
Why do you go to bed with someone that you don't like
Just because they got a nice car like Reverend Ike
It would be wrong if he heard what you're thinking
Thinking that he look like, um, Stinking Jenkins
But let me tell you a secret, he has ESP
And this is what he whispered in my ear to me
[Repeat x2]
I'm an ugly nigga, so what?
Just because I got loot, that's why you give me the butt?
I'm an ugly nigga, so what? So what?
Let me tell you how poor I was
Dome to the doo, and doo to the dome
For the dome I go to school and for the doo I use a comb
Now people always ask how are these things known
'Cause the dome does the doing for things that are done at home
That's why I keep a pick in my knappy fro
And for lunch I eat Ragu with my sloppy Joe
But at night I be starving, like Messy Marvin
I get cheap and go settle for the White Castle bargain
They offer me a lot in the army
But I'd rather get it second hand from the Salvation Army
'Cause times are getting harder than boot camp
Man I'm so poor I need to print my face on a food stamp
So if my hooptie breaks down, I just have to suffer
And tell Minekie "I'm not gonna pay a lot for this muffler!"
So I keep clear thoughts as the weeks run
But even on the beaches, they call me a beach bum
Something ain't right with me, and that really frightens me
'Cause nowadays girls don't even like to sprighten me
Some say I'm embarassing, but I got some comparison
Like if I was on TV, I would be Oscar Madison
Is there another like me? Only God knows
Man I should even rap in church cause I wear holy clothes
But for now I'm just going to do the strut
And this is what I say to girls from houses to huts
[Repeat x2]
I'm an ugly nigga, so what?
Just because I'm poor, that's why you won't give me the butt?
I'm an ugly nigga, so what? So what?
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
I'm a Ugly Nigga (So What) Lyrics as written by A. Toussaint A. Hall
Lyrics © CAK MUSIC PUBLISHING, INC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
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