"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.
Shame,
Shame on you
And your sweet head on the pillow
Take the pills, dear, let your hair grow
Take a knee, believe you me
With ankles to the earlobes
Bite your lip, dead, make a wish, girl
Bless your heart, bless your heart, bless your heart
Pox, a pox on you!
So what do you have to say for yourself
When the gangbang's done and no one's left to appease?
Aren't you fetching with finger cuffs and knock-knees?
We make a warm bed for the Yankees
Bless your heart, bless your heart, bless your heart
So, Abby, it's far too late for me
I left a notebook on the shelf just take the kids and save yourself
My little Abby, and soon they'll come for me
just tell my son that I'm sorry
I'll disappear, you no are free
And Abby, it's far too late for me
My sweet Abby, I hope you die laughing
All fat and cheek on your warm bed
The raven , the vulture won't circle your head
My sweet queen bee, I hope it comes quickly
I hope your thoughts don't drift to me
I'll die in here, you now are free
You now are free
My precious thing
Shame on you
And your sweet head on the pillow
Take the pills, dear, let your hair grow
Take a knee, believe you me
With ankles to the earlobes
Bite your lip, dead, make a wish, girl
Bless your heart, bless your heart, bless your heart
Pox, a pox on you!
So what do you have to say for yourself
When the gangbang's done and no one's left to appease?
Aren't you fetching with finger cuffs and knock-knees?
We make a warm bed for the Yankees
Bless your heart, bless your heart, bless your heart
So, Abby, it's far too late for me
I left a notebook on the shelf just take the kids and save yourself
My little Abby, and soon they'll come for me
just tell my son that I'm sorry
I'll disappear, you no are free
And Abby, it's far too late for me
My sweet Abby, I hope you die laughing
All fat and cheek on your warm bed
The raven , the vulture won't circle your head
My sweet queen bee, I hope it comes quickly
I hope your thoughts don't drift to me
I'll die in here, you now are free
You now are free
My precious thing
Lyrics submitted by michaelbondy
Your Ankles to Your Earlobes Lyrics as written by John Ashley Congleton
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
ieatbrains: Get over yourself. You know no more or better than anyone else.
ieatbrains: I'll tell you what I do know, you're coming off like a pseudo-intellectual, stuck up, elitist bitch.
i love this song. there's nothing sweeter in a love song then death and bitterness.
I'm not really sure what to think of this. It sounds like Abby cheated on her husband. He realizes she's not happy and decides to leave to make her happier.
When he says "It's far too late for me." and "I'll die in here, you now are free." might point to him killing himself.
I love the laughing in the beginning... This song makes "Said the Spider To The Fly" sound poppy.
i can't believe the person who wrote this producing the next polyphonic spree album!
It's missing my favorite line. "my sweet queen bee i hope it comes quickly i hope your thoughts don't drift to me..."
Here my idea of the album. It is about the guy named Henry, which from what i can gather he has some type of multiple personality disorder. He marries a woman named Abby who he knew from childhood, they have kids, and live a happy life until a war starts and Henry is shipped off to war. i don't know what happens during his service but something causes him to snap and develop a multiple personality disorder. so then he comes back and is thrown in to a world he does not know. Abby the one person who loved him completely, now resents him for living for so long. and his kids don't want anything to do with him. this causes Henry's other side to start taking control of him. this leads to this song, this is the first time you hear from the other Henry, he is the one at the beginning of the song that's why he seems to hate His wife and the second half of the song is Henry trying to warn his wife of her inevitable doom. from this song you go to a song called "lets be bad Henry lets be really bad" this song is the other Henry convincing Henry to give him control which works which leads to Henry killing a prostitute. then with the other Henry in full control he goes after his wife. which is played out in the song "Now you're gonna get it" where he tortures and kills her. then in the last song Bad Henry give control back to Henry and he see what happened and knows that there is no going back for him and in one last ditch effort to be with his wife again kills himself. but that is just what i think of the album if you have a different view let me know, and sorry if it seems hard to follow i just put down what i thought.
You can't listen (or read the lyrics) to just ONE song and try to figure out the meaning. Each album in it's entirety is a story, each song just a chapter. All the meanings tie in together. moloko: you wouldn't know what I know.
moloko: Abby didn't cheat on her husband...wtf ohh sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who truly understands Congleton's words...