"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.
A funny little heart, in a funny little box
Never take it out, 'cause it might get dropped
Bottle up and hide
Tell a little lie if you must, if you must
See the crooked man trying to walk the crooked mile
See the crooked lady with her crooked little smile
They see us as they pass and they don't know what they make of us,
To make of us
'Cause you and I, you and I, you and I
We see a stranger side of things
You and I, you and I, you and I
We dream a stranger kind of dream
We walk a weirder side of the street
Get an education, get a job, get a life
A little white fence and the feeling you've arrived
Sit yourself down,
Take a look around and give up, and give up
Save up all the pennies and then spend them in the shops
Everybody's trekking 'til the day they're gonna drop
They're from another planet and they don't know what they make of us,
To make of us
You and I, you and I, you and I
We see a stranger side of things
You and I, you and I, you and I
We dream a stranger kind of dream
We walk a weirder side of the street, of the street
Stop what you're doing, take your eyes off the screen
You've always got a feeling, but you don't know what it means
Step across a line
With an open mind and let go, and let go
You and I, you and I, you and I
We see a stranger side of things
You and I, you and I, you and I
We dream a stranger kind of dream
We walk a weirder side of the street
Never take it out, 'cause it might get dropped
Bottle up and hide
Tell a little lie if you must, if you must
See the crooked man trying to walk the crooked mile
See the crooked lady with her crooked little smile
They see us as they pass and they don't know what they make of us,
To make of us
'Cause you and I, you and I, you and I
We see a stranger side of things
You and I, you and I, you and I
We dream a stranger kind of dream
We walk a weirder side of the street
Get an education, get a job, get a life
A little white fence and the feeling you've arrived
Sit yourself down,
Take a look around and give up, and give up
Save up all the pennies and then spend them in the shops
Everybody's trekking 'til the day they're gonna drop
They're from another planet and they don't know what they make of us,
To make of us
You and I, you and I, you and I
We see a stranger side of things
You and I, you and I, you and I
We dream a stranger kind of dream
We walk a weirder side of the street, of the street
Stop what you're doing, take your eyes off the screen
You've always got a feeling, but you don't know what it means
Step across a line
With an open mind and let go, and let go
You and I, you and I, you and I
We see a stranger side of things
You and I, you and I, you and I
We dream a stranger kind of dream
We walk a weirder side of the street
Lyrics submitted by Jbrum90
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Fast Car
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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,
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I believe that this song is about a couple who sees how everyone else is living their boring lives, but they know that what the others are doing is so typical, and they don't want to be like them. They want to live life like they want, not like how they're expected to.