"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.
Up the hill past 694, at the stone wall make a left,
and I will see you soon my friend if these old directions still direct.
Is the problem that we can't see or is it that the problem is beautiful to me?
The birds of Virginia are flying within you
and like background singers they all come in threes.
Won't soul music change
now that our souls have turned strange.
Once a day, twice a day…
And when on and off collide
we'll set our souls aside and walk away.
We've been raised on replicas of fake and winding roads
and day after day up on this beautiful stage
we've been playing tambourine for minimum wage
but we are real, I know we are real.
My ski vest has buttons like convenience store mirrors
and they help me see, that everything in this room right now is a part of me.
Won't soul music change
now that our souls have turned strange.
Once a day, twice a day…
And when on and off collide
we'll set our souls aside and walk away.
Realizing is how it feels inside when it happens to you.
So I took a shot of sugar like snow dumped into the blood
and children wander off into the ultra-economic
but we are real I know we are real.
and I will see you soon my friend if these old directions still direct.
Is the problem that we can't see or is it that the problem is beautiful to me?
The birds of Virginia are flying within you
and like background singers they all come in threes.
Won't soul music change
now that our souls have turned strange.
Once a day, twice a day…
And when on and off collide
we'll set our souls aside and walk away.
We've been raised on replicas of fake and winding roads
and day after day up on this beautiful stage
we've been playing tambourine for minimum wage
but we are real, I know we are real.
My ski vest has buttons like convenience store mirrors
and they help me see, that everything in this room right now is a part of me.
Won't soul music change
now that our souls have turned strange.
Once a day, twice a day…
And when on and off collide
we'll set our souls aside and walk away.
Realizing is how it feels inside when it happens to you.
So I took a shot of sugar like snow dumped into the blood
and children wander off into the ultra-economic
but we are real I know we are real.
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
I think as much as anything, and all the messages about what is real/fake, there is a lot of commentary on the music industry. There is reference to the way music is played and performed and a plea to musicians to drop the superficial and theatrical antics that is common in music, particularly this verse:-
'We've been raised on replicas of fake and winding roads and day after day up on this beautiful stage we've been playing tambourine for minimum wage but we are real, I know we are real.'
Raised could be taken two ways - talking about the way that music was (the music they were raised on), or literally raised, as in, touring around whilst on show. Yet there's not hate of the music itself, hence 'beautiful stage'. The idea of 'tambourine... minimum wage' is obviously a cliché, hence why it's followed by a 'but'.
This is also re-enforced with the line, 'All my favourite singers couldn't sing'; there's a lot of criticism about the norms of the mainstream music industry in this. Silver Jews have commented in interviews that this isn't just a homage to the likes of Bob Dylan, but also a reminder to people that what actually constitutes as singing isn't always as so, and like all things, is relative to taste. "Singing" is singing, regardless of the inverted commas. This also comes into the line 'Won't soul music change' - as people's tastes change, so will what is regarded as good music.
'Shot of sugar' probably is a cocaine reference, which also adds into the ideals of traditional musician's identity - and it makes me wonder if the narrative is referencing drugs earlier in the song as well. It's explain a lot about 'souls going strange/ Once a day, Twice a day...', although I sort of wonder if that's a side effect of the musician's life in general.
I think there's a feeling of disorientation and loss of identity with performing, at least, and the 'we are real' is an attempt to assure. Things of beauty are related into musical ideas (birds of Viriginia in threes).
Yet there's a laid-back approach towards it 'is that the problem that is beautiful to me?', for instance. Regardless of all this supposed superficiality, the narrative remains real, and perhaps there's not a problem with having buttons like mirrors in convenience stores, or tacky/fake things. Sometimes there's personal meaning in something tacky. I think that's also an angle this song is trying to take.
I think there's a lot of double meanings in this song, and it's a real interesting one since there's plenty of valid and justified interpretations one can take.