"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.
In the corner of the morning in the past
I would sit and blame the master first and last
All the roads were straight and narrow
And the prayers were small and yellow
And the rumour spread that I was aging fast
Then I ran across a monster who was sleeping
By a tree
And I looked and frowned and the monster was me
Well, I said hello and I said hello
And I asked, why not, and I replied, I don't know
So we asked a simple black bird, who was happy as can be
And he laughed insane and quipped Kahlil Gibran
And I cried for all the others till the day was nearly through
For I realized that God's a young man too
Ho
Oh I said so long and I waved bye-bye
And I smashed my soul and traded my mind
Got laid by a young bordello
Who was vaguely half asleep
For which my reputation swept back home in drag
And the moral of this magic spell
Negotiates my hide
When God did take my logic for a ride
(Riding along)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
He swallowed his pride and puckered his lips
And showed me the leather belt round his hips
My knees were shaking my cheeks aflame
He said you'll never go down to the Gods again
(Turn around, go back)
He struck the ground a cavern appeared
And I smelt the burning pit of fear
We crashed a thousand yards below
I said do it again, do it again
(Turn around, go back)
His nebulous body swayed above
His tongue swollen with devil's love
The snake and I, a venom high
I said do it again, do it again
(Turn around, go back)
Breathe, breathe, breathe deeply
And I was seething, breathing deeply
Spitting sentry, horned and tailed
Waiting for you, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I would sit and blame the master first and last
All the roads were straight and narrow
And the prayers were small and yellow
And the rumour spread that I was aging fast
Then I ran across a monster who was sleeping
By a tree
And I looked and frowned and the monster was me
Well, I said hello and I said hello
And I asked, why not, and I replied, I don't know
So we asked a simple black bird, who was happy as can be
And he laughed insane and quipped Kahlil Gibran
And I cried for all the others till the day was nearly through
For I realized that God's a young man too
Ho
Oh I said so long and I waved bye-bye
And I smashed my soul and traded my mind
Got laid by a young bordello
Who was vaguely half asleep
For which my reputation swept back home in drag
And the moral of this magic spell
Negotiates my hide
When God did take my logic for a ride
(Riding along)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
He swallowed his pride and puckered his lips
And showed me the leather belt round his hips
My knees were shaking my cheeks aflame
He said you'll never go down to the Gods again
(Turn around, go back)
He struck the ground a cavern appeared
And I smelt the burning pit of fear
We crashed a thousand yards below
I said do it again, do it again
(Turn around, go back)
His nebulous body swayed above
His tongue swollen with devil's love
The snake and I, a venom high
I said do it again, do it again
(Turn around, go back)
Breathe, breathe, breathe deeply
And I was seething, breathing deeply
Spitting sentry, horned and tailed
Waiting for you, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
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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"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I think you all are WAY overanalyzing this thing. It's just a typically human struggle between doing what's right but difficult (god's path) and what's pleasurable but easy (satan's path), and facing the less-than-divine aspects of yourself (the monster). In this case, the figure in the song ends up in Hell-oops... The imagery of the lyrics is pretty bog-standard rock-n-roll-religious stuff. Not too far removed from the stuff coming out of the likes of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, etc.
Good song, though, one of my favorites of Bowies, on one of my favorite Bowie albums.
Wow, I like this interpretation.<br /> D Bowie is a clever man!
It's even simpler. Dude, it's about Bowie having gay sex.
@telegramsam17 I really like your interpretation. <br />