"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.
GTI, hot shot
He parks it there, just to piss me off,
Bullyboy, gonna show ya who's tough,
I'm gonna shoot the dog, I'm gonna shoot the dog,
It's party time, everyday
I spent Saturday night on novocaine
Called the pigs, but nobody came
I'm gonna shoot the dog, I'm gonna shoot the dog
....(come on laidies)
CHORUS:
Nine nine nine gettin' jiggy
People did you see that fire in the city?
It's like we're fresh out of democratic,
Gotta get yourself a little something
Semi-automatic yeah....
That's why I'm always gettin' stoned yeah
That's why I'm out there havin' fun again
Good puppy, good puppy
Rolling on over....
Mustapha
Mazeltov
The gaza boys,
All that holy stuff,
I got the feelin' when it all goes off,
They're gonna soot the dog,
They're gonna shoot the dog.
CHORUS:
Nine nine nine gettin' jiggy
People did you see that fire in the city?
It's like we're fresh out of democratic,
Gotta get yourself a little something
Semi-automatic yeah....
That's why I'm always gettin' stoned yeah
That's why I'm out there havin' fun again
Good puppy, good puppy
Rolling on over for the man....
The ayatollah's gettin' bombed yeah
See sergeant bilko having fun again,
Good puppy, good puppy
Rollin' on over for the man....
I believe, I believe what the old man said
Though I know that there's no lord above
I believe in me, I believe in you
And you know I believe in love
I believe in truth though I lie a lot
I feel the pain from the push and shove
No matter what you put me through
I'll still believe in love
And I say
Cherie baby, spliff up
I want to kick back mama
And watch the world cup with ya baby
Yeah, that's right!
We're getting freeky tonight
Let's have some fun while tony's stateside
It's gonna be alright
It's gonna be alright
See tony dancing with dubya
Don't you want to know why?
He parks it there, just to piss me off,
Bullyboy, gonna show ya who's tough,
I'm gonna shoot the dog, I'm gonna shoot the dog,
It's party time, everyday
I spent Saturday night on novocaine
Called the pigs, but nobody came
I'm gonna shoot the dog, I'm gonna shoot the dog
....(come on laidies)
CHORUS:
Nine nine nine gettin' jiggy
People did you see that fire in the city?
It's like we're fresh out of democratic,
Gotta get yourself a little something
Semi-automatic yeah....
That's why I'm always gettin' stoned yeah
That's why I'm out there havin' fun again
Good puppy, good puppy
Rolling on over....
Mustapha
Mazeltov
The gaza boys,
All that holy stuff,
I got the feelin' when it all goes off,
They're gonna soot the dog,
They're gonna shoot the dog.
CHORUS:
Nine nine nine gettin' jiggy
People did you see that fire in the city?
It's like we're fresh out of democratic,
Gotta get yourself a little something
Semi-automatic yeah....
That's why I'm always gettin' stoned yeah
That's why I'm out there havin' fun again
Good puppy, good puppy
Rolling on over for the man....
The ayatollah's gettin' bombed yeah
See sergeant bilko having fun again,
Good puppy, good puppy
Rollin' on over for the man....
I believe, I believe what the old man said
Though I know that there's no lord above
I believe in me, I believe in you
And you know I believe in love
I believe in truth though I lie a lot
I feel the pain from the push and shove
No matter what you put me through
I'll still believe in love
And I say
Cherie baby, spliff up
I want to kick back mama
And watch the world cup with ya baby
Yeah, that's right!
We're getting freeky tonight
Let's have some fun while tony's stateside
It's gonna be alright
It's gonna be alright
See tony dancing with dubya
Don't you want to know why?
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
wow poor george, hes put his views across but now hes in loadsa trouble, i just think the songs different but i dont really understand what hes saying and someone sed hes refering to the world trade and how bush handled it, i dont think thats right. its a good song tho, maybe change the lyrics