"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.
Wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
A wop bop a loo bop a lop ba ba
I got a gal, named Sue, she knows just what to do
I got a gal, named Sue, she knows just what to do
She rock to the East, she rock to the West
But she's the gal that I love best
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie, ooh
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
A wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom
I got a gal, named Daisy, she almost drives me crazy
Got a gal, named Daisy, she almost drives me crazy
She knows how to love me, yes indeed
Boy you don't know what she do to me
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie, ooh
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Wop bop a loo bop, ow
Oh tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie, ooh
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
A wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom
I got a gal, named Daisy, she almost drive me crazy
Got a gal, named Daisy, she almost drive me crazy
She knows how to love me, yes indeed
Boy you don't know what she do to me
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie, ooh
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
A wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
A wop bop a loo bop a lop ba ba
I got a gal, named Sue, she knows just what to do
I got a gal, named Sue, she knows just what to do
She rock to the East, she rock to the West
But she's the gal that I love best
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie, ooh
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
A wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom
I got a gal, named Daisy, she almost drives me crazy
Got a gal, named Daisy, she almost drives me crazy
She knows how to love me, yes indeed
Boy you don't know what she do to me
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie, ooh
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Wop bop a loo bop, ow
Oh tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie, ooh
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
A wop bop a loo bop a lop bom bom
I got a gal, named Daisy, she almost drive me crazy
Got a gal, named Daisy, she almost drive me crazy
She knows how to love me, yes indeed
Boy you don't know what she do to me
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie, ooh
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
Tutti frutti, oh rootie
A wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom
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Fast Car
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Great version of a great song,
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Plastic Bag
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“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
The way Little Richard ORIGINALLY sang it was
A wop bop a loo mop, a good god damn! / Tutti frutti, loose booty / If it don’t fit, don’t force it / You can grease it, make it easy
It was an old raunchy ditty (presumably about anal sex) that they cleaned up out of necessity. The clean lyrics mean nothing- the record company liked the catchy music and the enthusiasm with which Little Richard performed it, so they made it suitable for 1950's radio.
@cgodfrey I've heard that also and I think you're right
The last two verses are obvious and straight forward. It is the first verse that requires analysis and translation which I shall do below.
"Tutti frutti" is the American name for Neopolitan icecream.
"Oh rutti" is a corruption of the French "en route" which means "on the way".
So the first verse sings like so,
Neopolitan icecream, on the way, Neopolitan icecream, on the way, Neopolitan icecream, on the way, Neopolitan icecream, on the way, Neopolitan icecream, on the way,
Then we get to the line, "A wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boo"
A "wop bop" is obviously an Italian dance.
"A loo bop" is a dance in the toilet.
So Little Richard is singing about an Italian dance in the toilet.
"A lop bam boom" is obviously complete gibberish.
This is the best explanation of this song ever. Lol.
DarkenRahl makes sense for the most part. However:
Tutti Frutti and Neapolitan are not the same thing. Tutti frutti is entirely fruit flavored and often has dried or candied fruit as well as flavoring. Neapolitan is 1/3 strawberry, 1/3 chocolate, and 1/3 vanilla, which isn't even that fruity.
"A lop bam boom" isn't necessarily gibberish. Ferdinand Lop was a French presidential candidate in the 1940s, and since he ran right after WWII, Little Richard probably added war onomatopoeia (BAM! BOOM!). It is also possible that instead of "Bam boom," he's saying "bamboo," which would probably be a reference to a love of pandas.
Also, only at the end does he go "A Lop bam boom (bamboo). The rest of the song its "A lop bum bum." The "bum bum" is likely either just a musical segway, or perhaps a reference to the subject of both the original version and many other Little Richard songs (you know what I'm talking about).
I like the way Metalsandman thinks.
it doesn't actually say ''oh rutti'', but in fact says ''all rooty" as in slang for 'all right'. the original lyric was something like "nice booty" but had to be changed for obvious reasons
i laughed so hard when i read some of these comments. cgodfrey is right, but the rest of you have given me a good laugh.... pandas...HA!
mmmmm....tuttie frutti...
Little richard is a tutti frutti.. he likes to blow horses!
@jld_slick It calms the horses down and it makes an old man feel useful in his twilight years, stop being so picky.<br />