"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.
Keep it tight against your chest
This is my time
I'd like to see the table turned
Trade your placemat with mine
See if you can still make a ball
Or maybe eat the apple whole
And the furthest I could reach
Was as close as I had come
I'm in over my knees
And still the only one
Who has to get a grip on himself
I could use some outside help
It's already stale
It's just getting older and my side
Was sinking so quick
That the best I could do was jump ship
Waiting with bad bated breath
For the wind to change
It's just a well worn-out suggestion
To occupy the day
I wished that I knew when I threw it away
That I could deal with feeling this strange
But it sounds so similar
To something that I've done before
So I give myself a slap on the wrist
And you jam my hand in the door
It raises a smile from you
But it's only worth a by-line mention
A simple footnote from an impractical joke
Couldn't seem to hold your attention
This is my time
I'd like to see the table turned
Trade your placemat with mine
See if you can still make a ball
Or maybe eat the apple whole
And the furthest I could reach
Was as close as I had come
I'm in over my knees
And still the only one
Who has to get a grip on himself
I could use some outside help
It's already stale
It's just getting older and my side
Was sinking so quick
That the best I could do was jump ship
Waiting with bad bated breath
For the wind to change
It's just a well worn-out suggestion
To occupy the day
I wished that I knew when I threw it away
That I could deal with feeling this strange
But it sounds so similar
To something that I've done before
So I give myself a slap on the wrist
And you jam my hand in the door
It raises a smile from you
But it's only worth a by-line mention
A simple footnote from an impractical joke
Couldn't seem to hold your attention
Lyrics submitted by iliketoeaticecream
Impractical Joke Lyrics as written by Tom Morgan
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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,
the bad baited breath line makes me smile. one of my favorites at the moment. i think it's maybe about not being appreciated in a relationship?
A laidback number, which meanders along at a cruisy tempo with a liberal smattering of hooks thrown out along the two-minute journey
Tom Morgan: “Same thing, that was really quick. I remember when I write the lyrics that I was really happy with them, it felt like I was writing something different to what I’d written before. It sounded grown-up to me. In those days [the music and lyrics] all happen at the same time. The song would be written as I’d be playing guitar, so it was all at once. It happens a lot from what I’ve read, and it seems that often the best songs are written that way – you’re not really analysing what you’re doing, so it can match up really well.”