"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.
(One, two, three, four)
So you're on the prowl wonderin' whether
She left already or not
Leather jacket, collar popped like antenna
Never knowin' when to stop
Sunglasses indoors, par for the course
Lights in the floors and sweat on the walls
Cages and poles
Call off the search for your soul
Or put it on hold again
She's havin' a sly indoor smoke
She calls the folks who run this her oldest friends
Sippin' her drink and laughin' at imaginary jokes
As all the signals are sent, her eyes invite you to approach
And it seems as though those lumps in your throat
That you just swallowed have got you goin'
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Number one party anthem
She's a certified mind blower
Knowin' full well that I don't
May suggest there's somewhere from which I might know her
Just to get the ball to roll
Drunken monologues, confused because
It's not like I'm fallin' in love
I just want you to do me no good
And you look like you could
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Number one party anthem
Come on, come on, come on
Before the moment's gone
Number one party anthem
Yeah, yeah
The look of love, the rush of blood
The, 'She's-with-me's, the Gallic shrug
The shutterbugs, the Camera Plus
The black and white and the color dodge
The good time girls, the cubicles
The house of fun, the number one
Party anthem, oh
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Before the moment's gone
Number one party anthem
Number one party anthem
Number one party anthem
Yeah, yeah
So you're on the prowl wonderin' whether
She left already or not
Leather jacket, collar popped like antenna
Never knowin' when to stop
Sunglasses indoors, par for the course
Lights in the floors and sweat on the walls
Cages and poles
Call off the search for your soul
Or put it on hold again
She's havin' a sly indoor smoke
She calls the folks who run this her oldest friends
Sippin' her drink and laughin' at imaginary jokes
As all the signals are sent, her eyes invite you to approach
And it seems as though those lumps in your throat
That you just swallowed have got you goin'
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Number one party anthem
She's a certified mind blower
Knowin' full well that I don't
May suggest there's somewhere from which I might know her
Just to get the ball to roll
Drunken monologues, confused because
It's not like I'm fallin' in love
I just want you to do me no good
And you look like you could
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Number one party anthem
Come on, come on, come on
Before the moment's gone
Number one party anthem
Yeah, yeah
The look of love, the rush of blood
The, 'She's-with-me's, the Gallic shrug
The shutterbugs, the Camera Plus
The black and white and the color dodge
The good time girls, the cubicles
The house of fun, the number one
Party anthem, oh
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on
Before the moment's gone
Number one party anthem
Number one party anthem
Number one party anthem
Yeah, yeah
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by marttanja1735456898, itsmpurser
No. 1 Party Anthem Lyrics as written by Alex Turner
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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A certain scenario plays in my head when I listen to this song - partially because of a weird situation I've been in with a girl recently (I totally dig this girl and have been hanging out with her a lot, but she has a boyfriend...) but the scenario isn't something that has actually happened.
I know the song is about some sort of encounter at a club, but in my head I see something more along the lines of this:
First, he is walking into a party, aware that there is a certain girl there amongst the other girls, but still he is "dressing to impress" as a previous comment put it.
(The only lyric that doesn't apply to the scenario in my head is the line that makes it more obvious that the song is really about being at a club, whereas the guy I picture is just at some house party.)
Next, morals aren't an issue (Call off the search for your soul or put it on hold again). The reason I say he's looking for a certain girl is because the next few lines could easily suggest either a stranger or a specific person (She's having a sly indoor smoke, she calls the folks who run this her oldest friends, sipping her drink and laughing at imaginary jokes. As all the signals are sent, her eyes invite you to approach)
My favorite interpretation of this song comes in with the various placements of the "chorus" (Come on, come on, come on; Come on, come on, come on. Number one party anthem), where the first time I imagine the guy looking at himself in a mirror and telling himself "come on" as a self-motivation to make a move on this girl.
With the next verse, this girl somewhat turns into more than just a casual encounter, and it seems the guy actually falls for her a little bit more than he meant to. (She's a certified mind blower knowing full well that I don't... ...It's not like I'm falling in love I just want you to do me no good, and you look like you could)
With the next set of "come on, come on, come on", I picture him persuading her into bed, saying "come on" as he leads her to a random bedroom - "before the moment is gone," as the song suggests.
While the next series of lines plays, I imagine that these two start getting frisky, and this whole time I've imagined that this girl has a boyfriend already, and that he has found his way to the party to find his girlfriend. By the time he's gotten there, the other two are out by a pool having some drinks and just hanging out with everyone else, and the boyfriend has caught word of what may have happened between these two only moments earlier. So, he finds him, punches him, and pushes him into the pool. As the next series of "come on"'s plays, I imagine this time it's the boyfriend telling the girl to "come on" and leave the party with him.
I didn't mean to ramble on but I've just always loved coming up with scenarios based around my own interpretation of songs, and the way I imagine the meaning of "come on, come on, come on" changing throughout the song just seems to fit so well.
@masonwilliamh strip club.. my thought