"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.
They were hiding behind hay bales
They were planting in the full moon
They had given all they had for something new
But the light of day was on them
They could see the thrashers coming
And the water shone like diamonds in the dew
And I was just getting up, hit the road before it's light
Trying to catch an hour on the sun
When I saw those thrashers rolling by
Looking more than two lanes wide
I was feelin' like my day had just begun
Where the eagle glides, descending
There's an ancient river bending
Through the timeless gorge of changes
Where sleeplessness awaits
I searched out my companions
Who were lost in crystal canyons
When the aimless blade of science
Slashed the pearly gates
It was then that I knew I'd had enough
Burned my credit card for fuel
Headed out to where the pavement turns to sand
With a one way ticket to the land of truth
And my suitcase in my hand
How I lost my friends, I still don't understand
They had the best selection
They were poisoned with protection
There was nothing that they needed
Nothing left to find
They were lost in rock formations
Or became park bench mutations
On the sidewalks and in the stations
They were waiting, waiting
So I got bored and left them there
They were just dead weight to me
Better down the road without that load
Brings back the time when I was eight or nine
I was watchin' my mama's TV
It was that great Grand Canyon rescue episode
Where the vulture glides, descending
On an asphalt highway bending
Through libraries and museums, galaxies and stars
Down the windy halls of friendship
To the rose clipped by the bullwhip
The motel of lost companions
Waits with heated pool and bar
But me I'm not stopping there
Got my own row left to hoe
Just another line in the field of time
When the thrasher comes, I'll be stuck in the sun
Like the dinosaurs in shrines
But I'll know the time has come
To give what's mine
They were planting in the full moon
They had given all they had for something new
But the light of day was on them
They could see the thrashers coming
And the water shone like diamonds in the dew
And I was just getting up, hit the road before it's light
Trying to catch an hour on the sun
When I saw those thrashers rolling by
Looking more than two lanes wide
I was feelin' like my day had just begun
Where the eagle glides, descending
There's an ancient river bending
Through the timeless gorge of changes
Where sleeplessness awaits
I searched out my companions
Who were lost in crystal canyons
When the aimless blade of science
Slashed the pearly gates
It was then that I knew I'd had enough
Burned my credit card for fuel
Headed out to where the pavement turns to sand
With a one way ticket to the land of truth
And my suitcase in my hand
How I lost my friends, I still don't understand
They had the best selection
They were poisoned with protection
There was nothing that they needed
Nothing left to find
They were lost in rock formations
Or became park bench mutations
On the sidewalks and in the stations
They were waiting, waiting
So I got bored and left them there
They were just dead weight to me
Better down the road without that load
Brings back the time when I was eight or nine
I was watchin' my mama's TV
It was that great Grand Canyon rescue episode
Where the vulture glides, descending
On an asphalt highway bending
Through libraries and museums, galaxies and stars
Down the windy halls of friendship
To the rose clipped by the bullwhip
The motel of lost companions
Waits with heated pool and bar
But me I'm not stopping there
Got my own row left to hoe
Just another line in the field of time
When the thrasher comes, I'll be stuck in the sun
Like the dinosaurs in shrines
But I'll know the time has come
To give what's mine
Lyrics submitted by hurricanejesus
Thrasher Lyrics as written by Neil Young
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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I always thought that this song was about a man setting out to "find himself" once his beliefs get knocked down. "The aimless blade of science chopped the Pearly Gates." Like after science says that they've basically disproved religion, all these people just become depressed and lonely while one man doesn't take it, and sets out to find answers, to find himself, to find god. I had no clue this was about Neil leaving CSN&Y...........it's actually kind of a let down because this is one of my very favorite songs and I thought it meant more than it does.
It probably DOES mean a lot more than that, dumbass. You can have your own interpretation DONTCHA KNOW? <br /> <br /> Anyhoo, some genius once said that Neil needed CSN like a "stag needs a hat rack". Amen!
Jeez SaraAmerica that's a little harsh! Rag-Land, I always thought the same but as SaraAmerica says, often lyrics can have many interpretations never intended by the author. This is my all-time favourite song and the lyrics mean something quite profound to me though not necessarily too different from Neil's; just a different context.<br />
@Rag-Land <br /> <br /> I hope it doesn't get you too down - like any song or poem it can mean whatever it makes you think it means. Go with the impression it makes on you - your mind gives it the meaning for you. The songs that really disappoint me are tunes I love but have never even listened to the lyrics, then finally listen and find something vapid or truly offensive.