"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.
Well lemme, lemme tell you, a lunatic escaped from the asylum
I used to dig a hole for the body box, then I'd hide em'
In my backyard, another torture in the cellar
A dwella
A rather fucked up young fella
Got bats in my belfry
But nobody helps me
An eye on my enemy
'Cause everybody wants to kill me
I find myself in a bottle of liquor
But is it quicker
For me to stick her
Or maybe I should stick you!
What do I do?
My mind is gone with the wind
My mortal sin
Is hidden with a friendly grin
I don't know, what do ya think?
I can't see straight
Ad I've had too much to drink
Blink my eyes and try to find my soul
I'm on a roll
More like outta control
Where's my soul?
It must be on a higher plane
I'm insane
With all this butane
In my veins
Swing my head and search for a better half
Everything's funny so I guess I start to laugh
Substance abuse is takin' on a new blend
And I owe it all to my liquid friend
They callin' me a lowlife, drug addict, alcoholic son of a bitch
I'm breakin' my ass, I'm breakin' my ass, makin' them dollars, tryin' to get rich
I spend my loot on drug abuse and then enhance my state of mind
My soul is in the sky
I fly
My altitude is very high
I fall and crash in the graveyard with the dead
A pale moon hangs in the sky, blood red
Mislead by the demons that I see
I got this paranoid delusion that everybody wants to kill me
Flashbacks are in my mind, I walk along the wasteland
The tombstones, the wind blows, and something just touched my hand
I freeze up and can't even get a chance to blink
Where's my liquid friend, because I need another drink
You don't know how it feels to be me
Radio and TV
The strange things that I represent when you hear me
Can you see what I can see
The vision's gettin' blurry
Future's lookin' dim so I'm startin' to get worried
Makin' the burn brings for tales of the dead
Prince of pain that laughs
In the path
Of a terminal end
The shadows fallin' demons begin to hide
The dark dominion, the product of the flip side
My mind, it bleeds tales of alcoholic dreams
Light beams, drug abuse and crack feinds
Substance abuse has gained a new blend
And I owe it all to my liquid friend
I used to dig a hole for the body box, then I'd hide em'
In my backyard, another torture in the cellar
A dwella
A rather fucked up young fella
Got bats in my belfry
But nobody helps me
An eye on my enemy
'Cause everybody wants to kill me
I find myself in a bottle of liquor
But is it quicker
For me to stick her
Or maybe I should stick you!
What do I do?
My mind is gone with the wind
My mortal sin
Is hidden with a friendly grin
I don't know, what do ya think?
I can't see straight
Ad I've had too much to drink
Blink my eyes and try to find my soul
I'm on a roll
More like outta control
Where's my soul?
It must be on a higher plane
I'm insane
With all this butane
In my veins
Swing my head and search for a better half
Everything's funny so I guess I start to laugh
Substance abuse is takin' on a new blend
And I owe it all to my liquid friend
They callin' me a lowlife, drug addict, alcoholic son of a bitch
I'm breakin' my ass, I'm breakin' my ass, makin' them dollars, tryin' to get rich
I spend my loot on drug abuse and then enhance my state of mind
My soul is in the sky
I fly
My altitude is very high
I fall and crash in the graveyard with the dead
A pale moon hangs in the sky, blood red
Mislead by the demons that I see
I got this paranoid delusion that everybody wants to kill me
Flashbacks are in my mind, I walk along the wasteland
The tombstones, the wind blows, and something just touched my hand
I freeze up and can't even get a chance to blink
Where's my liquid friend, because I need another drink
You don't know how it feels to be me
Radio and TV
The strange things that I represent when you hear me
Can you see what I can see
The vision's gettin' blurry
Future's lookin' dim so I'm startin' to get worried
Makin' the burn brings for tales of the dead
Prince of pain that laughs
In the path
Of a terminal end
The shadows fallin' demons begin to hide
The dark dominion, the product of the flip side
My mind, it bleeds tales of alcoholic dreams
Light beams, drug abuse and crack feinds
Substance abuse has gained a new blend
And I owe it all to my liquid friend
Lyrics submitted by nikuku
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Actually inspired from Madrox's youth as he was an alcoholic.