"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.
Well I knew a dealer, Dan, and he'd say
"Don't worry 'bout me -
I'm never gonna fit the plan
And I'll never work for free"
And then he spent some time in a State Penitentiary
I believe he made ten cents an hour
And I knew a girl in college
Sweet as the summer sun
Never worried 'bout books and knowledge
She was having too much fun
And I hear these days she's living at home with a three year old son
Reading up on women taking power
The trees grow high
and the leaves they grow green
And me oh my all the things that I have seen
Don't be surprised little bro
When the world turns out mean
Life is what happens In Between
Well I know a man, old man, about ninety five
He could hardly see nor stand
But he was goddamn glad to be alive
And he said, "Hey son go and taste of life!
Get in your car and drive."
And that's exactly what I do
But out here on the road
You know a man leads a simple life
Don't carry no heavy loads
Ad he don't get time for the lady or a wife
But sometimes the stars aren't fallin'
Oh no they don't shine so bright
And that's when I wish I was home with you
The trees they grow high
And the leaves they grow green
And me oh my all the things that I have seen
Don't be surprised little bro
When the world turns out mean
Life is what happens In Between
Well you remember our dad, remember what he said?
He said, "This here's a family,
Gonna be together 'til we're dead"
Ten years and two homes ago
It ain't quite what turned out to be
And I still hear those words
They ring and ring and ring inside of me
The trees grow high
And the leaves they grow green
And me oh my all the things that I have seen
Don't be surprised little bro
When the world turns out mean
Life is what happens In Between
Life is what happens In Between
"Don't worry 'bout me -
I'm never gonna fit the plan
And I'll never work for free"
And then he spent some time in a State Penitentiary
I believe he made ten cents an hour
And I knew a girl in college
Sweet as the summer sun
Never worried 'bout books and knowledge
She was having too much fun
And I hear these days she's living at home with a three year old son
Reading up on women taking power
The trees grow high
and the leaves they grow green
And me oh my all the things that I have seen
Don't be surprised little bro
When the world turns out mean
Life is what happens In Between
Well I know a man, old man, about ninety five
He could hardly see nor stand
But he was goddamn glad to be alive
And he said, "Hey son go and taste of life!
Get in your car and drive."
And that's exactly what I do
But out here on the road
You know a man leads a simple life
Don't carry no heavy loads
Ad he don't get time for the lady or a wife
But sometimes the stars aren't fallin'
Oh no they don't shine so bright
And that's when I wish I was home with you
The trees they grow high
And the leaves they grow green
And me oh my all the things that I have seen
Don't be surprised little bro
When the world turns out mean
Life is what happens In Between
Well you remember our dad, remember what he said?
He said, "This here's a family,
Gonna be together 'til we're dead"
Ten years and two homes ago
It ain't quite what turned out to be
And I still hear those words
They ring and ring and ring inside of me
The trees grow high
And the leaves they grow green
And me oh my all the things that I have seen
Don't be surprised little bro
When the world turns out mean
Life is what happens In Between
Life is what happens In Between
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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."
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."
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.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.