"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'm accustomed to the smooth ride
Or maybe I'm a dog who's lost its bite
I don't expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don't expect to sleep through the night
Some people say a lie's a lie's a lie
But I say, "why
Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?"
And in remembering a road sign
I'm remembering a girl when I was young
And we said, "these songs are true
These days are ours
These tears are free"
And hey
The cross is in the ballpark
The cross is in the ballpark
We had a lot of fun
Had a lot of money
We had a little son and we thought we'd call him Sonny
Sonny gets married and moves away
Sonny has a baby and bills to pay
Sonny gets sunnier
Day by day by day by day
Well, I've been waking up at sunrise
I've been following the light across my room
I watch the night receive the room of my day
Some people say the sky is just the sky
But I say
"Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?"
Sonny sits by his window and thinks to himself
How it's strange that some rooms are like cages
Sonny's yearbook from high school
Is down on the shelf
And he idly thumbs through the pages
Some have died
Some have fled from themselves
Or struggled from here to get there
Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls
Runs his hands through his thinning brown hair
Well, I'm accustomed to a smoother ride
Or maybe I'm a dog who's lost its bite
I don't expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don't expect to sleep the night
Some people say a lie is just a lie
But I say
"The cross is in the ballpark
Why deny the obvious child?"
Or maybe I'm a dog who's lost its bite
I don't expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don't expect to sleep through the night
Some people say a lie's a lie's a lie
But I say, "why
Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?"
And in remembering a road sign
I'm remembering a girl when I was young
And we said, "these songs are true
These days are ours
These tears are free"
And hey
The cross is in the ballpark
The cross is in the ballpark
We had a lot of fun
Had a lot of money
We had a little son and we thought we'd call him Sonny
Sonny gets married and moves away
Sonny has a baby and bills to pay
Sonny gets sunnier
Day by day by day by day
Well, I've been waking up at sunrise
I've been following the light across my room
I watch the night receive the room of my day
Some people say the sky is just the sky
But I say
"Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?"
Sonny sits by his window and thinks to himself
How it's strange that some rooms are like cages
Sonny's yearbook from high school
Is down on the shelf
And he idly thumbs through the pages
Some have died
Some have fled from themselves
Or struggled from here to get there
Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls
Runs his hands through his thinning brown hair
Well, I'm accustomed to a smoother ride
Or maybe I'm a dog who's lost its bite
I don't expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don't expect to sleep the night
Some people say a lie is just a lie
But I say
"The cross is in the ballpark
Why deny the obvious child?"
Lyrics submitted by adupont, edited by nyetnyetnyet
The Obvious Child Lyrics as written by Paul Simon
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think your pretty right on this Pat, but the speaker is on his death bed "I don't expect to sleep the night" is a pretty stong statement to support this.
But paul Simon did say the "cross in the ballpark" is the burden we bear, and I'd tend to think that the burden in the song is death(""I don't expect to sleep the night"")/ getting older ("I watch the night receive the room of my day "), the obvious.
But yeah, no question this song doesn't have anything to do with religion, just getting old, death, realization of it.
I think the "I don't expect to sleep the night" isn't meant to be metaphorical in any way, it's quite literal. As you get older, you do stop expecting to sleep the night - waking up to go to the bathroom more frequently (esp. men), or with leg cramps/restless legs, or whatever. It goes along with all the other processes/signs of aging that are mentioned in the song, whether physical or mental (thinning hair, nostalgia for past times).