"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.
He don't remember, how it got there
It had a number, written on his forearm
It spelled disaster
He entered the club scene
All hoping, all hoping for dancing
He was looking, and looking stunning
His clothes reflected light, all right
She sat, she sat in the backseat
The car was plush but had no heat
And no not no one was blushing
Their technique was so damn right
All right, and
He read the note in the black light
He thought he read minds and was not right
That line still made him seem charming
His clothes were shining, shining
It had a number, written on his forearm
It spelled disaster
He entered the club scene
All hoping, all hoping for dancing
He was looking, and looking stunning
His clothes reflected light, all right
She sat, she sat in the backseat
The car was plush but had no heat
And no not no one was blushing
Their technique was so damn right
All right, and
He read the note in the black light
He thought he read minds and was not right
That line still made him seem charming
His clothes were shining, shining
Lyrics submitted by Chiisushi, edited by AnytimeAnyhow, QuiteRad
Lounge Lyrics as written by Isaac Brock Eric Judy
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Mountain Song
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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."
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."
No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
I like this song a lot too, it took me a lot of time to figure out what I think this song means, but really it wasnt the lyrics that finally communicated it but the music itself. I think its about the emptyness two people can find in each other. "He don't remember, how it got there It had a number, written on his forearm It spelled disaster"----- seems to me to be about a club kid, young, good looking, as much as i hate the term a "player". Hes got a girls number who he hardly knows, calls her up, they go out together, go to his car... "She sat, she sat in the backseat The car was plush but had no heat And no not no one was blushing Their technique was so damn right"---- nice car but no heat, a classic technique guys use. They have sex, empty, meaningless, solely on a physical level. Then the song slows down and it seems to communicate to me how empty the people feel afterwards and how empty their lives are.
i thought more people would have commented on this song. well, it is one of my favorites by modest mouse. people often compare them to built to spill or the pixies. though both are great bands, i just dont think they can compare. i feel modest mouse is on a completely different level of deliverance and style. and its just amazing.
i love modest mouse's double negatives.
Anyone think it could be related to the Lounge off of Lonesome Crowded West? That the guy and the girl in Lonesome's song are the same guy and girl in Long Drive's song?
I think Lonesome's "Lounge" makes references to dancing and partying, and so does this song. I think this was a precursor to the other one, but that's just me.
i read in interview with isaac that the lounge songs are movie plots he made up in his head but instead of making a movie he wrote a songs
isaac brock met the woman frequently referred to at a club. he left drove her in his white suit and baby blue sedan and fucked her. he had himself a crazy lover, becoming frozen ttying hard o forget her, i've got a girlfriend out of the city i know i like her i think she is pretty. isaac brock, i believe, (the grooms down o me cuz he ate the rice, it was well intentioned but bad advice) witnessed this woman getting married and it fucked him up cuz he loved her so much. so this song describes the sex after the club where he met her
burnonedown... no, ok? you can try and make any song sound like an acid trip. haha. I again, think stef nailed that shit.
Whoa; I think stef nailed it.
THe other lounge off of Lonesome crowded west is similar to this. THey both are like 8 minutes and are instrumental for the last 4 minutes
i love this song stef had it right but something needs to be said about the music. the end of the song is some of the most BEAUTIFUL music i have ever heard. truly. it sounds like finding a car crash in the early morning in the grey fog when its run off the road into dark pine trees and brush and how it looks at 6 am with the tired cops and firefighters and you know the person died. as setf said its about emptyness and the part with the lyrics is is rushy catchy but then goes into this long sad empty stretch as if reflecting on the loneliness of what happened and that strange detached feeling.