"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.
Forgive me, Forgive me,
If I seem alarmed.
I had emotion in this moment,
But no harm's done.
You see, I've read through a million
Words that I have wrote,
And built up mountains from shrapnel.
I've made my mind up, my mind up.
Because the line drawn in the sand's wrong.
And, when all the pioneers are gone,
All that's left are unresolved,
Out-of-step opinions.
Then you, say the word and I will come,
With overbearing clouds of war.
Out of breath but not alone.
Forgive me, forgive me,
If I'm straightforward.
I'm here to poison this process,
That is getting old.
I always wind up, with botched up,
Overcritical, the motive, motives.
I've made my mind up, my mind up.
And I could care less who's turned up.
And, when all the pioneers are gone,
All that's left are unresolved,
Out-of-step opinions.
Then you, say the word and I will come,
With overbearing clouds of war.
Out of breath but not alone.
Could care less who's turned up.
They always say how great,
It is to leave us for it.
You will never know when,
We have been stretched too thin.
And, when all the pioneers are gone,
And all that's left are unresolved,
Out-of-step opinions.
It's life or death once more for you.
Say the word and I will come,
With overbearing clouds of war.
Out of breath but not alone.
If I seem alarmed.
I had emotion in this moment,
But no harm's done.
You see, I've read through a million
Words that I have wrote,
And built up mountains from shrapnel.
I've made my mind up, my mind up.
Because the line drawn in the sand's wrong.
And, when all the pioneers are gone,
All that's left are unresolved,
Out-of-step opinions.
Then you, say the word and I will come,
With overbearing clouds of war.
Out of breath but not alone.
Forgive me, forgive me,
If I'm straightforward.
I'm here to poison this process,
That is getting old.
I always wind up, with botched up,
Overcritical, the motive, motives.
I've made my mind up, my mind up.
And I could care less who's turned up.
And, when all the pioneers are gone,
All that's left are unresolved,
Out-of-step opinions.
Then you, say the word and I will come,
With overbearing clouds of war.
Out of breath but not alone.
Could care less who's turned up.
They always say how great,
It is to leave us for it.
You will never know when,
We have been stretched too thin.
And, when all the pioneers are gone,
And all that's left are unresolved,
Out-of-step opinions.
It's life or death once more for you.
Say the word and I will come,
With overbearing clouds of war.
Out of breath but not alone.
Lyrics submitted by palefacebrett
Out of Breath Lyrics as written by Christopher Guanlao Brian Aubert
Lyrics © Word Collections Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
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:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
I think it's sort of a statement of purpose. Going forward, the Pickups are going to be musical pioneers rather than followers. No more Smashing Pumpkins comparisons.
Neck of the Woods was their most sonically diverse album yet, and with this song as the last track I think they're saying that they're going to push boundaries even further with their next one.
"I’ve made my mind up, my mind up And I could care less who’s turned off"
He's gotten tired of doing the same thing over and over again. He wants to make his own music rather than what critics expect of him at this point.