"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.
Three thousand miles of wilderness overcome by the flow
A lonely restitution of pavement, pomp and show
I seek a thousand answers, I find but one or two
I maintain no discomfiture, my path again renewed
Against the grain, that's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain
Here labeled as a lunatic, sequestered and content
There ignored and defeated by the government
There's an oriented public whose magnetic force will pull
But away from the potential of the individual
Against the grain, that's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain
The flow is getting stronger with small increments of time
And eddies of new ideas are increasingly hard to find
You need all that the other has, it's your right to seize the day
But in all your acquisitions you will soon be swept away
Against the grain, that's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain
There's a common consensus and an uncomfortable cheer
A reverberating chorus that anyone can hear
It sings 'leave your cares behind you, just grab tenaciously'
This lulling sense of purpose will destroy us rapidly
Against the grain, that's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain
Against the grain, against the grain
Against the grain
A lonely restitution of pavement, pomp and show
I seek a thousand answers, I find but one or two
I maintain no discomfiture, my path again renewed
Against the grain, that's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain
Here labeled as a lunatic, sequestered and content
There ignored and defeated by the government
There's an oriented public whose magnetic force will pull
But away from the potential of the individual
Against the grain, that's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain
The flow is getting stronger with small increments of time
And eddies of new ideas are increasingly hard to find
You need all that the other has, it's your right to seize the day
But in all your acquisitions you will soon be swept away
Against the grain, that's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain
There's a common consensus and an uncomfortable cheer
A reverberating chorus that anyone can hear
It sings 'leave your cares behind you, just grab tenaciously'
This lulling sense of purpose will destroy us rapidly
Against the grain, that's where I'll stay
Swimming upstream, I maintain against the grain
Against the grain, against the grain
Against the grain
Lyrics submitted by M4R5, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Against the Grain Lyrics as written by Greg Graffin
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think basically the song speaks for itself. Don't just believe what is force-fed to you. Find out from your own experience instead. It's conforting to conform, but it's not a good way of understanding true human-nature. Going against the grain of tradititional beliefs can reveal the pure truth of our existence.
It's about being a punk (AGAINST THE GRAIN), and Greg's experiences as a kid. When he was young he was outcast, and even more so when he got into punk rock, and when he had released the first Bad Religion 7 inch. He was beat up for it, because it wasn't the kids idea of music, which was music about sex, rape, and getting wasted, but still he remained against the grain, and thank god otherwise BR wouldn't exist, or atleast with Greg (a frightening thought).
The way society is straightjacketing people into popular beliefs and how individuality and the need to question and rebel is becoming lost in mainstream trends.
I think :)
I agree with all of you, but its also anthem that encourages free thinking. It's a great song, while on one end it provides some social commentary, on the other end it inspires listeners to think for themselves.
Always question popular beliefs.
I also agree with all of you. I think that it's saying that you should not follow popular beliefs and go your own way... GREAT Song ^_-
It's about shaving. Durr.
Or how not to saw wood, perhaps?
what does everyone think this song is about, i think its about the flow twoards modern society and evelutionogenic regress
I also agree with all of you. I think that it's saying that you should not follow popular beliefs and go your own way... GREAT Song ^_-
feel free to repeat yourself
Amazing..Amazing song, my personal favorite Bad Religion song, so deep and so true, There's a common consensus and an uncomfortable cheer, A reverberating chorus that anyone can hear, It sings 'leave your cares behind you, just grab tenaciously,' This lulling sense of purpose will destroy us rapidly,
I love that verse.