"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 you sure didn't look like you were having any fun,
with that heavy-metal gaze they'll have to measure in tons.
And when you look up at the sky,
all you see are zeros,
and all you see are zeros and ones.
You took my hand and led me down to watch a kewpie doll parade,
And we let the kittens lick our hair and drank our chalky lemonade.
It's not that I just didn't care, I must admit I was afraid.
And I'm awfully glad my finger's resting gently on the masterfade.
The masterfade,
I coulda played along.
The masterfade,
I coulda played Mah Jongg,
but it just takes too long,
and I just can't remember
which way the east wind blows?
Does it matter?
If we're all matter,
what's it matter?
Does it matter,
if we're all matter when we're done
when the sky is full of zeros and ones?
I saw you standing all alone in the electrostatic rain.
I thought at last I'd found a situation you can't explain.
With GPS you know it's all just a matter of degrees.
Your happiness won't find you underneath that canopy of trees.
If the green grass is 6, and the soybeans are 7,
the junebugs are 8, the weeds and thistles are 11.
And if the 1s just hold thier place, the 0s make a smiley face
when they come floating down from the heavens.
You took my hand and lead me down to watch a papillon parade.
We let the kittens lick our hair and drank our chalky lemonade.
You squeezed my hand and told me softly that I shouldn't be afraid,
'cause all the while your finger's resting gently on the masterfade.
The masterfade,
I coulda played along.
The masterfade,
I coulda played Mah Jongg,
but it just takes too long,
and who the hell can remember
which way the east wind blows,
when your lying on the ground
staring up at that inverted compass?
I mean, Christ, who Knows?
with that heavy-metal gaze they'll have to measure in tons.
And when you look up at the sky,
all you see are zeros,
and all you see are zeros and ones.
You took my hand and led me down to watch a kewpie doll parade,
And we let the kittens lick our hair and drank our chalky lemonade.
It's not that I just didn't care, I must admit I was afraid.
And I'm awfully glad my finger's resting gently on the masterfade.
The masterfade,
I coulda played along.
The masterfade,
I coulda played Mah Jongg,
but it just takes too long,
and I just can't remember
which way the east wind blows?
Does it matter?
If we're all matter,
what's it matter?
Does it matter,
if we're all matter when we're done
when the sky is full of zeros and ones?
I saw you standing all alone in the electrostatic rain.
I thought at last I'd found a situation you can't explain.
With GPS you know it's all just a matter of degrees.
Your happiness won't find you underneath that canopy of trees.
If the green grass is 6, and the soybeans are 7,
the junebugs are 8, the weeds and thistles are 11.
And if the 1s just hold thier place, the 0s make a smiley face
when they come floating down from the heavens.
You took my hand and lead me down to watch a papillon parade.
We let the kittens lick our hair and drank our chalky lemonade.
You squeezed my hand and told me softly that I shouldn't be afraid,
'cause all the while your finger's resting gently on the masterfade.
The masterfade,
I coulda played along.
The masterfade,
I coulda played Mah Jongg,
but it just takes too long,
and who the hell can remember
which way the east wind blows,
when your lying on the ground
staring up at that inverted compass?
I mean, Christ, who Knows?
Lyrics submitted by beastiefreak00
Masterfade Lyrics as written by Andrew Wegman Bird
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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here's a direct quote from Andrew:
"I wrote that one when I first moved out to my barn in the country. And I was trying to reconcile being in nature with also trying to set up a studio and struggling with technology. So I’d struggle with it and then go for long walks on the farm and I couldn’t separate the two. I kept seeing zeros and ones in everything. And also as with almost every song it’s not that simple, there’s several threads that go though it. I could also be talking about a relationship, you know. One person in a relationship has their finger on the master fade and can kind of control the reality of the other person with the fade dial. So there’s like three or four stories in that song."
from an interview with the gothamist.
@TheNamingOfThings I am a little bit late to the party but here's my take (14+yrs later) from what I have read online Mr. bird is an infj in mbti typology. I have a very good friend who is an infj & his stare is often INTENSE but that is often his default look as he is the kindest thoughtful person I know . Infj just have that brooding stare fr...just wanted to add that...