"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.
We walked on the beach beside that old hotel
They're tearing it down now
But it's just as well
I haven't shown you everything a man can do
So stay with me baby
I've got plans for you
This is the time to remember
Cause it will not last forever
These are the days
To hold on to
Cause we won't
Although we'll want to
This is the time
But time is gonna change
You've given me the best of you
And now I need the rest of you
Did you know that before you came into my life
It was some kind of miracle that I survived
Some day we will both look back
And have to laugh
We lived through a lifetime
And the aftermath
This is the time to remember
Cause it will not last forever
These are the days
To hold on to
Cause we won't
Although we want to
This is the time
But time is gonna change
I know we've got to move somehow
But I don't want to lose you know
Sometimes it's so easy
To let a day
Slip on by
Without even seeing each other at all
But this is the time you'll turn back and so will I
And those will be the days you can never recall
And so we embrace again
Behind the dunes
This beach is cold
On winter afternoons
But holding you close is like holding the summer sun
I'm warm from the memory of days to come
This is the time to remember
Cause it will not last forever
These are the days
To hold on to
But we won't
Although we'll want to
This is the time
But time is gonna change
You've given me the best of you
But now I need the rest of you
They're tearing it down now
But it's just as well
I haven't shown you everything a man can do
So stay with me baby
I've got plans for you
This is the time to remember
Cause it will not last forever
These are the days
To hold on to
Cause we won't
Although we'll want to
This is the time
But time is gonna change
You've given me the best of you
And now I need the rest of you
Did you know that before you came into my life
It was some kind of miracle that I survived
Some day we will both look back
And have to laugh
We lived through a lifetime
And the aftermath
This is the time to remember
Cause it will not last forever
These are the days
To hold on to
Cause we won't
Although we want to
This is the time
But time is gonna change
I know we've got to move somehow
But I don't want to lose you know
Sometimes it's so easy
To let a day
Slip on by
Without even seeing each other at all
But this is the time you'll turn back and so will I
And those will be the days you can never recall
And so we embrace again
Behind the dunes
This beach is cold
On winter afternoons
But holding you close is like holding the summer sun
I'm warm from the memory of days to come
This is the time to remember
Cause it will not last forever
These are the days
To hold on to
But we won't
Although we'll want to
This is the time
But time is gonna change
You've given me the best of you
But now I need the rest of you
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This is about enjoying the present, because things inevitably change, even if we wish they didn't. It's about not taking anyone important in your life for granted, because you never know when your relationship (or even life) will end.
I love this lyric:
But holding you close is like holding the summer sun I'm warm from the memory of days to come.
I'm not much of a Billy Joel fan, but this song is exceptional. It is SO sad, but it is rather like a hopeful warning. This IS the time to remember...
This is the number one song that i have always wanted to slow dance to...it isn't about new love...but love that has endured...great song
This song reminds me of Green Day's Time of your Life -This is the Time being a better song, though- this song has such a nice meaning and -apart from Tomorrow is Today- it is my favourite Billy Joel song.
Excellent choice, but there's so many songs from which to choose. I also love You're My Home. No little about Green Day; I'll have to check out the band.
When I was little, my sister and I fought over two songs: "We Didn't Start the Fire" and this one. We'd always say, "Okay mom, now let's listen to THIS one!" We were rivals back then; my sister always wanted "We Didn't Start the Fire" and I always wanted this one, and we didn't particularly care for each other's taste in music. As time went on, we remembered "Fire" but I forgot what this song was called or who performed it - although I still loved it all the time and was paying attention if I ever heard it again. Imagine my surprise when so many years later, a couple weeks ago, I pop in "The Bridge" on my iPod and this song comes up - and as it turns out we were squabbling over two Billy Joel songs! I thought only one of them was Billy Joel.
Anyway, great song about enjoying the moment.
mmm this sog rminds me of my old camp it makes me sad but its so beautiful I listen to it anyways
It was guiding light's soundtrack
A lot of high schools play this song at the senior prom
"You've given me the best of you, but now I want the rest of you." Great line that was stolen and screwed up by those faggots named O-Town.