"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.
The first time that I met her
I was throwing up in the ladies room stall
She asked me if I needed anything
I said, "I think I spilled my drink"
And that's how it started
(Or so I'd like to believe)
She took me to her mother's house
Outside of town where the stars hang down
She said she'd never seen someone so lost
I said I'd never felt so found
And then I kissed her on the cheek
And so she kissed me on the mouth
The spring was popping daises up
Around rusted trucks and busted lawn chairs
We moved into a studio in Council Bluffs
To save a couple bucks
Where the mice came out at night
Neighbors were screaming all the time
We'd make love in the afternoons
To Chelsea Girls and Bachelor #2
I'd play for her some songs I wrote
She'd joke and say I'm shooting through the roof
I'd say, "They're all for you, dear
I'll write the album of the year"
And I know she loved me then
I swear to God she did
It was the way she'd bite my lower lip
And push her hips against my hips
And dig her nails so deep into my skin
The first time that I met her
I was convinced I had finally found the one
She was convinced I was under the influence
Of all those drunken romantics
I was reading Fante at the the time
I had Bukowski on my mind
She got a job at Jacob's
Serving cocktails to the local drunks
Against her will, I fit the the bill
I perched down at the end of the bar
She said, "Space is not just a place for stars
I gave you an inch, you want a house with a yard"
And I know she loved me once
But those days are done
She used to call me every day
From a pay phone on her break for lunch
Just to say she can't wait to come home
The last time that I saw her
She was picking through which records were hers
Her clothes were packed in boxes
With some pots and pans and books and a toaster
Just then a mouse scurried across the floor
We started laughing until it didn't hurt
We started laughing until it didn't hurt
We started laughing until it didn't hurt
We started laughing until it didn't hurt
We started laughing until it didn't hurt
I was throwing up in the ladies room stall
She asked me if I needed anything
I said, "I think I spilled my drink"
And that's how it started
(Or so I'd like to believe)
She took me to her mother's house
Outside of town where the stars hang down
She said she'd never seen someone so lost
I said I'd never felt so found
And then I kissed her on the cheek
And so she kissed me on the mouth
The spring was popping daises up
Around rusted trucks and busted lawn chairs
We moved into a studio in Council Bluffs
To save a couple bucks
Where the mice came out at night
Neighbors were screaming all the time
We'd make love in the afternoons
To Chelsea Girls and Bachelor #2
I'd play for her some songs I wrote
She'd joke and say I'm shooting through the roof
I'd say, "They're all for you, dear
I'll write the album of the year"
And I know she loved me then
I swear to God she did
It was the way she'd bite my lower lip
And push her hips against my hips
And dig her nails so deep into my skin
The first time that I met her
I was convinced I had finally found the one
She was convinced I was under the influence
Of all those drunken romantics
I was reading Fante at the the time
I had Bukowski on my mind
She got a job at Jacob's
Serving cocktails to the local drunks
Against her will, I fit the the bill
I perched down at the end of the bar
She said, "Space is not just a place for stars
I gave you an inch, you want a house with a yard"
And I know she loved me once
But those days are done
She used to call me every day
From a pay phone on her break for lunch
Just to say she can't wait to come home
The last time that I saw her
She was picking through which records were hers
Her clothes were packed in boxes
With some pots and pans and books and a toaster
Just then a mouse scurried across the floor
We started laughing until it didn't hurt
We started laughing until it didn't hurt
We started laughing until it didn't hurt
We started laughing until it didn't hurt
We started laughing until it didn't hurt
Lyrics submitted by rengalous
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I love almost every line in this song. It's so witty.
the song is incredibly clever and I enjoy it more every time I listen to it. It makes me sad though because the guy blew it with the girl because he got too needy and clingy. Just goes to show you have to have your own life outside of a relationship; let the person be a part of your life without actually BEING your life.
I'm absolutely shocked that so many people describe this song as 'cute'. How anyone can find a song so absolutely oozing with heartbreak 'cute' is beyond me ... but to each their own?
This is an extraordinary piece of songwriting. Tim Kasher is a genius. Very few songs that are this heartrending strike me as being simultaneously beautiful -- breathtakingly so. It definitely chokes me up every time. Sigh!
Wow... you people AMAZE me. The absolute best line in the song is "Against her will, I fit the the bill I perched down at the end of the bar She said, “Space is not just a place for stars I gave you an inch, you want a house with a yard” Space is not just a place for stars!! WOW!! I'm getting that tattooed on me! that I Rilo Kiley's "I am flawed if I'm not free"
"she said she’d never seen someone so lost i said i’d never felt so found"
how i long for that feeling. kasher knows how to do it.
Guitar solo at the end is fucking great!'
WEZ
"We just started laughing ‘til it didn’t hurt."
i hate it when that happens.
this album is quite simply one of the best of 2004. This cd couldn't start off with a better song, probably one of my favorites from the cd. Its just brilliantly put together.
"The first time that I met her I was throwing up in the ladies room stall"
That is the best opening to an album ever. this is one of the goodlifes most amazing songs in my opinion. its such a cute love song, and things stragley work out in the end its so cute i love it. expecially the part
"And I know she loved me once, but those days are done. She used to call me everyday from a pay phone on her break for lunch just to say she can’t wait to come home."
so cute
this is such a great song-its really grown on me. this cd makes me never want to get married