"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.
Enola Gay, you should have stayed at home yesterday
Aha, words can't describe the feeling and the way you lied
These games you play, they're gonna end it more than tears someday
Aha, Enola Gay, it shouldn't ever have to end this way
It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been
We got your message on the radio, conditions normal and you're coming home
Enola Gay, is mother proud of little boy today?
Aha, this kiss you give, it's never ever gonna fade away
Enola Gay, it shouldn't ever have to end this way
Aha, Enola Gay, it shouldn't fade in our dreams away
It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been
We got your message on the radio, conditions normal and you're coming home
Enola Gay, is mother proud of little boy today?
Aha, this kiss you give, it's never ever gonna fade away
Aha, words can't describe the feeling and the way you lied
These games you play, they're gonna end it more than tears someday
Aha, Enola Gay, it shouldn't ever have to end this way
It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been
We got your message on the radio, conditions normal and you're coming home
Enola Gay, is mother proud of little boy today?
Aha, this kiss you give, it's never ever gonna fade away
Enola Gay, it shouldn't ever have to end this way
Aha, Enola Gay, it shouldn't fade in our dreams away
It's 8:15, and that's the time that it's always been
We got your message on the radio, conditions normal and you're coming home
Enola Gay, is mother proud of little boy today?
Aha, this kiss you give, it's never ever gonna fade away
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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The Cold War was the subject of many 80s synthpop songs, among which "Enola Gay" is one of the best known. The other posters who point out the obvious reference to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima ("Little Boy"), and the evocation of the imagery of a mother and her child as an ironic metaphor for the relationship between the bomber and the bomb, are all correct. The song is even more specific -- it is about living in the 1980s under the shadow of Cold War fears of atomic war and nuclear annihilation, which many people at the time viewed as inevitable given the way world events seemed to be going. The song looks back almost wistfully to the point in history when that state of existence was brought into being.
The motif of the clock stopped at 8:15, the indelible kiss (of the heat flash from the bomb blast), and the call of "conditions normal," all reference that sense of history frozen on the precipice of armageddon. (The melancholy, bittersweet yet strangely kicky tune of the original song also expresses that feeling -- for young people at the time a song that they could dance to in the shadow of their own impending destruction seemed perfectly appropriate.) In many places throughout popular culture, not just song lyrics,
But in saying, "It shouldn't ever have to end this way," the song is also making a tacit plea to change the direction of world events, challenging just a tiny bit the idea that nuclear destruction was completely inevitable. Many people living at the time truly believed that the Cold War would still be going on long after they were no longer alive -- if the world was not destroyed first -- yet because of "Enola Gay" and many other forms of popular expression that reminded people of these issues and gave them a way to articulate their fears (and hopes), popular movements around the world eventually forced a change of heart by political leaders.
By the early 1990s, America has begun extensive nuclear disarmament and Soviet Russia had completely collapsed. The Cold War was over. But the disconsolate lyrics and eerie tune of "Enola Gay" still evoke the anxiety, fear, and determination of that strange era.
Pretty much hit the nail on the head, fructivore.<br /> <br /> "Shout" by Tears For Fears expresses a darker, more uncertain tone to the feeling of the Cold War, with the United States trying to outfox the Soviet Union.
@fructivore I think you nailed it. The one thing I think you missed is the reference in the line, "Enola Gay, is mother proud of little boy today?" The Pilot, Paul Tibbets named the aircraft after his mother, Enola Gay Tibbets.
@fructivore -- Thanks for your comment. Very well put. And I appreciate your tone: our popular culture DOES reflect the deep anxieties of our society. And there's value in carefully considering that pop culture. That doesn't mean you can't dance to it too. But it's nice to also take a moment for careful consideration. Which is what I like finding when I look here on songmeanings.com
@fructivore I really concur with this opinion, I am of that generation and when this song was released, I was convinced that we wouldn't be able to avoid the Soviet/NATO war. I would add that the constant symbolic two-tone alarm sound from the synthesiser helped to bring an urgency to this song
And here we are again.
It is well known what this song means. Its about the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hirosima, Japan by America in 1945 and the wrongness of it. 'Enola Gay' was the name of the plane that dropped the bomb. From the start we know the narrator disagrees with the bomb dropped because he says 'Enola Gay, you should have stayed at home yesterday' and should'nt have gone out on the mission. This also tells us that the narrator is telling this story of how he regrets the dropping of the bomb, straight after it he knows the actual effects, only the day after. He then goes on to say that 'words cant describe the feeling in the way you lied' I believe 'the way you lied' refers to the fact that the war was more or less finished (already peace in Europe) and even though war was'nt officially over between America and Japan, it must have been a big surprise when war was probably thought to have finished. 'these games you play, they're going to end in more tears someday' means that the more we experiment with so destructable weapons, the more destructable we wil become and will cause even more suffering. 'It shouldnt have to end this way' simply means that there was no real need for the dropping and even if there was much more need, it should'nt never ever happened. 'Its 8:15 and thats the time that its always been' simply refers to the time the bomb was dropped as planned. 'We got your message on the radio: Conditions normal and you're coming home' is pretty self explanitry as well, being about the pilot in the plane reporting that he's dropped the bomb and is coming home. When I hear 'conditions normal' it makes me think that the narrator is angry that all these people are dying and all that matters is that the pilot is fine. 'Enola Gay, is mother proud of little boy today' has two meanings of which i think both can and are correct. Firstly it is refering to the pilot. The plane is named after the pilot who flyed it's mother and secondary, 'little boy' was the name of the atomic bomb itself and so, the narrator is asking the pilots mother (and the rest of the people who were involved in the devlopment and plan of the bomb dropping) if she is proud of her son, dropping the bomb, and the bomb itself, causing so much misery and suffering. 'This kiss you give, its never ever gonna fade away' shows us that the kiss, the activation of the bomb, is never going to fade away, mostly in the term that the disaster will be remembered for always, and never forgetten in history, but also physically, in that you can still see where it was hit. This is a beautiful, powerful and clever song, about a real sad and important issue. I love it that it seems like just a love song on the outside but if you look into it, its actually about something completly different.
This song is about the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima which helped to end WWII.
The name of the plane was Enola Gay. 8:15 AM on August 6, 1945 was the time the bomb was dropped. The name of the bomb was "Little Boy."
Um you have it HALF right...8:15 was time the Enola Gay reported in "we got your message on the radio, conditons normal and you're coming home". HOWEVER they never made it home. Enola Gaye is one of the aviation mysteries.<br /> <br /> No plane, no crew ever actaully returned or was recovered - "you should have stayed at home yesterday"<br /> Also, the lyrics "Ah-ha words can't describe the feeling and the way you lied"...referring to them reporting they were "coming home", but did not.<br /> <br /> The plane was lost. That is essentially what the song is about.
Wait a minute "Atlanticgrl" - maybe you're just a troll trying to stir things up, but your reply could not be further from the truth.<br /> <br /> Here are the facts:<br /> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enola_Gay
Yes, this song literally is about Hiroshima's atomic bomb, but this event is also used as a metaphor of all little actions with huge and devastating consequences, like infidelity.
Pressing a button can be like giving an "inocent" kiss... with death following afterwards.
My favourite 80's song by far!
just great. although its about war and the enola gay bomber (by the way is this also the first romantic song ever about an aircraft bomber??), i like the fact the upbeat and general feel-good tone to the song somewhat hides this and makes it seem happy.
just love that 80's synth sound!
and this is also about the only song i can do well on karaoke!
'Little Boy' was the name of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. 'Fat Man' was the bomb later dropped on Nagasaki.
Hence the references to being proud of little boy. Just to clear that up.
I think it also has the sense of the pilot's mother whou would be proud of the son. Like a double sided expression
The pilot named the plane after his mother, so you can bet the topic of 'Is mother proud of Little Boy today' is pretty damn valid.
Lyrically this song is amazing. To the casual listener it may seem like a break-up song, like the narrator is lamenting after his break-up with a girl called 'Enola Gay'. But of course, we know what the song is really about- a bombing that would provide a kiss which would truly never, ever fade away. Pure genius.
Actually you are both wrong and correct. The plane was named after the pilots mother but the bomb was named Little Boy after president Roosevelt. So Is mother proud of little boy today as at least 4 different meanings.
"do you see what you're writing? can you think? Do you think, that this bomb helped end ww2? eh, children, what the propaganda can make with you... :/"
I disagree, I think Japan being removed from the fighting completely shortened the war's duration significantly. I'm not saying whether or not I agree with it being dropped, since it seems futile to take sides on something which has already happened, but there's no denying that it helped the war to shorten. Whether the cost was worth it or not is the bit which needs deciding.
To anybody who is interested...
Just do a little reading to get the facts, or failing that watch a few movies. The truth is that the Japanese were already attacking Pearl Harbor when they declared war. To some it would seem fitting that the bombs were dropped after the Japanese surrendered. That isn't true though. Sure, the bombings were an atrocity, and should never have taken place, however...
The official surrender by the Japanese didn't happen until several days after "Fat Man" was detonated 1800 feet above Nagasaki. The surrender was not only the result of the second detonation, but also in response to the Soviet invasion of Manchuria which happened on the same day.
Moreover, I would like to reinforce the fact that OMD are not in awe of the bombings. The song is deliberately melancholic because it is intended to evoke an emotional response to these terrible events.
And for anyone who really wonders why the bombs were dropped: they were intended as a display of power for the benefit of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The Soviets already had a functional nuclear program and the Cold War was already underway in Germany when the USSR took control of what became East Germany.
@sugarfish that's factually balderdash. NUCLEAR weapons weren't around until the 1950s, but even the atomic bomb (which is different) wasn't in Soviet hands until 1949, four years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Cold War arguably began when Truman walked up to Stalin at Potsdam and, in English, told him that the US had a functioning weapon of mass destruction, as if to gloat. Indeed, the dropping of those two atomic bombs was intended as a power play by the United States, but it was nothing to do with the Japanese surrender. 250,000 people died to boost Truman's ego. Even top US generals of the time admitted openly that the Japanese were on the verge of surrender before the atomic bombs were dropped, and that those atrocities were simply unnecessary. Whilst it is true that Japan failed to surrender until a few days later, you may want to check history for any surrender finalised within a day or two - it just doesn't happen unless the enemy literally knocks on your palace door and shoves the armistice in your face. It was common knowledge among leaders of the war effort on both sides that Japan was about to end the war, but Truman seized the opportunity before they had chance to get his fill of slaughter and bloodshed. There is no justification whatsoever for the events of the 06th and 09th August 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that is what this song portrays perfectly. I absolutely agree with those other comments which highlight the appropriacy of an upbeat, synth dance track about such a devastating and at the time entirely repeatable event.
@Queenfan1991 No, the first nuclear weapon test was in the mid-1940s, not the 1950s.
For those who are unaware of history:
6th August - Enola gay drops Little Boy on Hiroshima 9th August - Bockscar drops Fat Man on Nagasaki 14th August - Japan Surrenders
So people saying the bombs dropped after Japan surrendered are just plain wrong. Also, it quite definitively ended the war, as the US and Japan were the last belligerent nations (Germany had surrendered back in May). And considering that almost a MILLION Japanese lives had been lost in a single firebombing raid on Tokyo, the atom bombs were almost mercies in comparison.
The bombs ended the war. Emperor Hirohito said as much when announcing the surrender.
Some notes on the song:
-"Enola Gay, is mother proud of little boy today" - I think this is meant to be a question, asking either the bomber or the woman if they're proud of it -"It cant describe the feeling and the way you lied" - The Japanese saw three planes in the sky and assumed it was a recon flight, not a raid, as all the other raids had been dozens or hundreds of bombers, not three.