"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.
Day-in, day-out
Stay-in, fade-out
Day-in ooh-ooh
Day-out ooh-ooh ooh
She was born in a handbag
Love left
On a doorstep
What she lacks is a backup
Nothing seems to make a dent
Gonna find her some money honey
Try to pay her rent
That's the kind of protection that everyone is shouting about
Day-in (day in), day-out (day out)
Stay-in fade-out
Day-in ooh-ooh
Day-out ooh-ooh ooh
First thing she learns is
She's a citizen
Some things they turn out right
When you're under the usa
Someone rings a bell
And it's all over
She's going out of her way
Stealing for that one good rush
Day-in (day in), day-out (day out)
Stay-in fade-out
She could use a little money
She's hangin' on his arms
Like a cheap suit
She's got no money, honey
She's on the other side
Oh come on little baby
Late night, big town
Police, shake down
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Day-in, day-out
Stay-in, fade-out
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Day-in day-out
She's got a ticket to nowhere
She's gonna take a train ride
Nobody knows her, or knows her name
She's in the pocket of a home boy
Ooh she's gonna take her a shotgun, pow
Spin the grail spin the drug
She's gonna make them well aware
She's an angry gal
Day-in (day in), day-out (day out)
Stay-in fade-out
Stay-in, fade-out
Day-in ooh-ooh
Day-out ooh-ooh ooh
She was born in a handbag
Love left
On a doorstep
What she lacks is a backup
Nothing seems to make a dent
Gonna find her some money honey
Try to pay her rent
That's the kind of protection that everyone is shouting about
Day-in (day in), day-out (day out)
Stay-in fade-out
Day-in ooh-ooh
Day-out ooh-ooh ooh
First thing she learns is
She's a citizen
Some things they turn out right
When you're under the usa
Someone rings a bell
And it's all over
She's going out of her way
Stealing for that one good rush
Day-in (day in), day-out (day out)
Stay-in fade-out
She could use a little money
She's hangin' on his arms
Like a cheap suit
She's got no money, honey
She's on the other side
Oh come on little baby
Late night, big town
Police, shake down
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Day-in, day-out
Stay-in, fade-out
Ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh
Day-in day-out
She's got a ticket to nowhere
She's gonna take a train ride
Nobody knows her, or knows her name
She's in the pocket of a home boy
Ooh she's gonna take her a shotgun, pow
Spin the grail spin the drug
She's gonna make them well aware
She's an angry gal
Day-in (day in), day-out (day out)
Stay-in fade-out
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where lesser musicians would write something along the lines of "oh my god, i'm crying so much for you and i have to come to see you!" bowie write "in red-eyed pain i'm knocking on your door again..." i absolutely love that line! so subtle, yet so powerful.
Guilt, regret, realizing that so much time has passed and not a moment of it was cherished...I hear this song and I wonder what I'm doing just sitting here listening to music. I should be out experiencing the world. soft sigh
A lonely man crying for love. A catchy tune, but I feel a deep sadness inside of it. I can not explain.
This is one of my all-time favourite Bowie songs. It's so beautiful - yearning, tender. There's a real vulnerability and sadness in David's voice and lyrics that makes me ache. I can't quite express how much this song means to me. It makes me shiver and sigh, smile or cry, depending on my mood...
I love many Bowie songs, but this one is just special. It's hard to explain why but it touches my heart whenever I listen to it. I've had some expierience about not understanding what it means to have someone around who really loves you and not taking him for granted. I have done many bad things and this song is so like I am feeling now. I couldnt express my feelings better than Bowie did in the lyrics. And everytime I listen to it, I feel so sad and so lonely and so angry because it's all my fault.
It's quite contrary to the song Within You. In an interview, he said that he is quite selfish about what he wrote in 2002 and 2003 (as I said in Cactus), but what I meant about the contrary was that in Within You the lyric was "Everything I've done I've done for you." In this, it's "All I've done, I've done for me."
Is this for Coco Schwab maybe?