"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.
dont want to see the land, dont want to be alone, we dont need a map if thats alright with you.(sink or swim)dont want to see inside, cant help but feel alone,we dont need a hand if thats alright with you(sink or swim)
must have been drinking, must have been gambling,there is a secret,there is no captain here(the blood of a martyr the ink of a scholar)
where are these dark rooms?
where are these hushed tones?
navigate this nosebleed, navigate this cancer
(youre following one)
dont want to see the land,dont want to be alone, we dont need teeth if thats alright with you.(sink or swim)dont want to save ourselves, cant help but feel mislead, we dont need pills if thats alright with you(sink or swim)
whos manning the helm while we feed the engine?
navigate this nosebleed, navigate this cancer
(youre following one)
reorganize this wreck dont go looking at the stars the answers are not in books yet, ignore the theory of a captain, the answers are not in books yet, please look in working class hearts...
victory of the intelligentsia, victory of self serving blood... a shut out
victory of the short attention spans, victory of us against ourselves... sink swimming
we are lost, who will lead us, we cant see, who will show us now?
must have been drinking, must have been gambling,there is a secret,there is no captain here(the blood of a martyr the ink of a scholar)
where are these dark rooms?
where are these hushed tones?
navigate this nosebleed, navigate this cancer
(youre following one)
dont want to see the land,dont want to be alone, we dont need teeth if thats alright with you.(sink or swim)dont want to save ourselves, cant help but feel mislead, we dont need pills if thats alright with you(sink or swim)
whos manning the helm while we feed the engine?
navigate this nosebleed, navigate this cancer
(youre following one)
reorganize this wreck dont go looking at the stars the answers are not in books yet, ignore the theory of a captain, the answers are not in books yet, please look in working class hearts...
victory of the intelligentsia, victory of self serving blood... a shut out
victory of the short attention spans, victory of us against ourselves... sink swimming
we are lost, who will lead us, we cant see, who will show us now?
Lyrics submitted by Anatriptic
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Fast Car
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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,
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