"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.
While the music played, you worked by candlelight
Those San Francisco nights
You were the best in town
Just by chance you crossed the diamond with the pearl
You turned it on the world
That's when you turned the world around
(Did you feel like Jesus?)
Did you realize
That you were a champion in their eyes?
On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene
But yours was kitchen-clean
Everyone stopped to stare at your technicolor motor home
Every A-Frame had your number on the wall
You must have had it all
You'd go to L.A. on a dare and you'd go it alone
(Could you live forever?)
Could you see the day?
Could you feel your whole world fall apart and fade away?
Get along, get along, Kid Charlemagne
Get along, Kid Charlemagne
Now your patrons have all left you in the red
Your low-rent friends are dead
This life can be very strange
All those Day-Glo freaks who used to paint the face
They've joined the human race
Some things will never change
(Son, you were mistaken)
You are obsolete
Look at all the white men on the street
Get along, get along, Kid Charlemagne
Get along, Kid Charlemagne
Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail
Those test tubes and the scale
Just get it all out of here
Is there gas in the car?
Yes, there's gas in the car
I think the people down the hall know who you are
(Careful what you carry)
'Cause the man is wise
You are still an outlaw in their eyes
Get along (get along), get along, Kid Charlemagne (get along)
Get along, Kid Charlemagne
Those San Francisco nights
You were the best in town
Just by chance you crossed the diamond with the pearl
You turned it on the world
That's when you turned the world around
(Did you feel like Jesus?)
Did you realize
That you were a champion in their eyes?
On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene
But yours was kitchen-clean
Everyone stopped to stare at your technicolor motor home
Every A-Frame had your number on the wall
You must have had it all
You'd go to L.A. on a dare and you'd go it alone
(Could you live forever?)
Could you see the day?
Could you feel your whole world fall apart and fade away?
Get along, get along, Kid Charlemagne
Get along, Kid Charlemagne
Now your patrons have all left you in the red
Your low-rent friends are dead
This life can be very strange
All those Day-Glo freaks who used to paint the face
They've joined the human race
Some things will never change
(Son, you were mistaken)
You are obsolete
Look at all the white men on the street
Get along, get along, Kid Charlemagne
Get along, Kid Charlemagne
Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail
Those test tubes and the scale
Just get it all out of here
Is there gas in the car?
Yes, there's gas in the car
I think the people down the hall know who you are
(Careful what you carry)
'Cause the man is wise
You are still an outlaw in their eyes
Get along (get along), get along, Kid Charlemagne (get along)
Get along, Kid Charlemagne
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Ok, this song is 100% about Owsley Stanley. He made the best LSD and was the Dead's soundman for several years in the late 60's and in the 70's. Some of these posts are way off however. The "Day Glow Freaks who used to paint the face have joined the human race" are the former hippies who have gotten jobs and stopped tripping (look at the old footage of San Fran in '68...they've all got flowers painted on their faces). "You're obsolete, look at all the white men on the street" 'White Men' are the coke dealers. No one was dropping anymore by the mid 70's, but rather doing blow. Hence, Owsley was obsolete. And the running out of gas thing is apparently a true story....He got caught 'cas his car ran out of gas. Now the idea of Owsley creating something new ie "crossing a diamond with a pearl" I don't really see. I think it just refers to the good LSD he was making. The Acid derivative he created was a big failure and was responsible for nothing but bad trips, so I don't see that experiment being eulogized in song. Peace, Munch Johnson
Agreed
I have a slightly different take on this. It seems to me that this song is pretty obviously about Owsley Stanley, but on the surface only. There are plenty of drug references for those who think that's the only meaning. I believe it's actually a song about Wernher Von Braun, disguised as a song about Owsley Stanley and I'll explain why. <br /> Firstly, Charlemagne was an ancient 'King of Europe'. A more recent pretender to that throne was Hitler and his pet project was the V2 rocket program, headed by Von Braun, which was hellbent on gaining control over Europe for the third Reich. The allied and particularly the American rocket programs were many years behind Von Braun's technology. Kerosene and its derivatives were initially used as rocket fuel. <br /> Following the Nazi defeat, Von Braun was expatriated to America with a 'clean slate' (Operation Paperclip) where he became head of NASA and the Appollo space program. <br /> <br /> 'Get along, get along Kid Charlemagne.' <br /> <br /> Given Fagen's familial heritage, it seems to me that he's hiding this controversial subject matter (America's expatriation of Nazi scientists like Von Braun) behind yet another of his faded hipsters (Owsley Stanley).
@epjmunch215 Agree with you, disagree with Denonymous who appears to have his own agenda.
@epjmunch215 You are correct! The "DayGlo refers to a brand of paint that was often used to "paint the face".
@epjmunch215 Owsley moved to Australia sometime in the 90's and died there in a car wreck in 2011.