"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.
I got a vision, a teenage daughter
Who's growing up naked in the afternoon
I know a brother close to his mother
Who stays out late in the evening time
I keep repeating, it takes a beating
To grow up naked in the afternoon
You are a cowboy if you wear those boots
You are a cowboy when you wear those boots (3x)
Big time in the city (4x)
I got a letter
I read in the paper
It said a man was shot to death
It said a cow gave poison milk
Big time in the city when you wear those boots
I keep repeating, it takes a beating
To wear those boots in the afternoon
You call it a question
You call it a color
I got a letter
I think it's a vision
Big time in the city
I got a vision
I know a brother close to his mother
After the morning
You've had your rest
Well I got a letter
You are a cowboy
Big time in the city
Time to go naked in the afternoon
Take off your hat, take off your coat
Big time in the city
You've had your rest
I got a letter
You are a cowboy
Read in the paper
Big time in the city
It's time to go naked in the afternoon
Who's growing up naked in the afternoon
I know a brother close to his mother
Who stays out late in the evening time
I keep repeating, it takes a beating
To grow up naked in the afternoon
You are a cowboy if you wear those boots
You are a cowboy when you wear those boots (3x)
Big time in the city (4x)
I got a letter
I read in the paper
It said a man was shot to death
It said a cow gave poison milk
Big time in the city when you wear those boots
I keep repeating, it takes a beating
To wear those boots in the afternoon
You call it a question
You call it a color
I got a letter
I think it's a vision
Big time in the city
I got a vision
I know a brother close to his mother
After the morning
You've had your rest
Well I got a letter
You are a cowboy
Big time in the city
Time to go naked in the afternoon
Take off your hat, take off your coat
Big time in the city
You've had your rest
I got a letter
You are a cowboy
Read in the paper
Big time in the city
It's time to go naked in the afternoon
Lyrics submitted by egert
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theres a lot to worry about. ...absolutley fantastic
i just downloaded this and now i need to get all 35 (and counting) albums.
Again, Jandek displays some serious technical chops in poetics. Absolutely phenomenal lyrics in a seemingly cut-and-paste method, repeating certain lines in an incredibly musical fashion. Truly remarkable stuff.