"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.
Me I imagine places
That I have never seen
The colored lights in fountains,
Blue and green
And I imagine places
That I will never go
Behind these clouds that hang here,
Dark and low
But it's there when I'm holding you
It's there when I am sleeping too
It's there when there is nothing left of me
It's hanging just beyond
The burned out factory
Out of reach but leading me
Into the beautiful sea
And I remember something
It feels a lot like fear
Some kid is wild and shouting
Coast is clear
And it's there when I'm holding you
It's there when I am sleeping too
It's there when there is nothing left of me
It's hanging just beyond
The burned out factory
Out of reach but leading me
That I have never seen
The colored lights in fountains,
Blue and green
And I imagine places
That I will never go
Behind these clouds that hang here,
Dark and low
But it's there when I'm holding you
It's there when I am sleeping too
It's there when there is nothing left of me
It's hanging just beyond
The burned out factory
Out of reach but leading me
Into the beautiful sea
And I remember something
It feels a lot like fear
Some kid is wild and shouting
Coast is clear
And it's there when I'm holding you
It's there when I am sleeping too
It's there when there is nothing left of me
It's hanging just beyond
The burned out factory
Out of reach but leading me
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"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
I believe that "This is clear" should be "Coast is clear."
This is beautiful and melancholy song. To me it's a person who is trapped in a place (either a physical, real place, or the imagery of dark clouds and burned-out factories is metaphorical). It appears that the person's background as a child is also troubled: "I remember something/It feels a lot like fear." He or she yearns to be in another, better place, and her imagination keeps leading her "into the beautiful sea." Sally's lovely voice is never more expressive than it is on this song.