"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.
Home is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me around
I feel numb, born with a weak heart
I guess I must be having fun
The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground, head in the sky
It's okay, I know nothing's wrong, nothing
Oh, I got plenty of time
Oh, you got light in your eyes
And you're standing here beside me
I love the passing of time
Never for money, always for love
Cover up and say goodnight, say goodnight
Home, is where I want to be
But I guess I'm already there
I come home, she lifted up her wings
I guess that this must be the place
I can't tell one from the other
I find you, or you find me?
There was a time before we were born
If someone asks, this is where I'll be, where I'll be, oh
We drift in and out
Oh, sing into my mouth
Out of all those kinds of people
You got a face with a view
I'm just an animal looking for a home and
Share the same space for a minute or two
And you love me till my heart stops
Love me 'til I'm dead
Eyes that light up
Eyes look through you
Cover up the blank spots
Hit me on the head I got ooh!
Pick me up and turn me around
I feel numb, born with a weak heart
I guess I must be having fun
The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground, head in the sky
It's okay, I know nothing's wrong, nothing
Oh, I got plenty of time
Oh, you got light in your eyes
And you're standing here beside me
I love the passing of time
Never for money, always for love
Cover up and say goodnight, say goodnight
Home, is where I want to be
But I guess I'm already there
I come home, she lifted up her wings
I guess that this must be the place
I can't tell one from the other
I find you, or you find me?
There was a time before we were born
If someone asks, this is where I'll be, where I'll be, oh
We drift in and out
Oh, sing into my mouth
Out of all those kinds of people
You got a face with a view
I'm just an animal looking for a home and
Share the same space for a minute or two
And you love me till my heart stops
Love me 'til I'm dead
Eyes that light up
Eyes look through you
Cover up the blank spots
Hit me on the head I got ooh!
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery, edited by blahreport, P514sub, tarface23
This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody) Lyrics as written by Jerry Harrison Chris Frantz
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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newcoterierotary said: "do you really think someone who was in love would say
"I'm just an animal looking for a home Share the same space for a minute or two" "
Me. I would say that. We're all animals, shuffling around our stupid little pointless lives looking for a place to belong. And those lives are so fleeting, they might as well be a minute or two.
When you realize that in the grand scheme of things everything you have and know is the blink of an eye then gone, the most romantic thing you can say to another person is share with me the boring, mundane, and stay with me "out of the passing of time". Time is precious, what better reason could there be to stay with someone?
A lot of what some of you think makes this song depressing, is what I find heartwarming.
"We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet... I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things... all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness'." - Shall We Dance
Also "Want to treasure the rest of your days here, and give you pleasure in so many ways, dear." - Hard to Concentrate by RHCP.
Newcoterierotary hit the nail on the head. This is a disarmingly beautiful song.
I would say the narrator is in love but he realizes how foolish his romantic notions are. Even the title "This Must Be the Place" is subverted by the subtitle "Naive Melody." He realizes that he is in love, feels that he must "be there" but realizes he is being foolish.
@patrick100... Naïve Melody refers to the actual rhythm of the song. It has nothing to do with the song itself or the meaning of the lyrics, this according to David Byrne himself.
@Tomtomp beautifully put!