"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.
[This is not an official translation but my own attempt at one. If anyone has suggestions for changes, I'd appreciate the input :)]
Fate has smiled upon me
And has made a present for me
Threw me onto a warm star
Close to the skin, far from the eye
I take my fate into my own hand
My desire is fulfilled*
Where the sweet water dies
Because it is spoiled in the salt
I keep the Little Prince in mind
A king without a queen
When a woman strays to me
Then all the world becomes confused
Man against man
My skin belongs to men
Man against man
Like attracts like
Man against man
I am the servant of two lords**
Man against man
Like attracts like
I am the corner of all rooms
I am the shadow of all trees
No link is missing in my chain***
When the desire**** pulls from behind
My gender curses me as a traitor
I am the nightmare of all fathers
Man against man
My skin belongs to men
Man against man
Like attracts like
Man against man
But my heart does freeze on certain days
Man against man
Cold tongues that strike
Homo
I am not interested in balance
The sun shines onto my face
But my heart does freeze on certain days
Cold tongues that strike
Homo
Man against man
-------------------------------------------------------------
* - I’m not sure whether my translation is correct, but the intended wordplay is obviously that the verb “bemannt” has the word “Mann” in it
** – The word “Herr” can, of course, be translated as (gentle-)man, but “lord” sounded better in the context of servants
*** – “Glied”, when referring to a chain, means “link”, but it can also mean “member” in connection to genitalia
**** – The German “Lust” is not as strong as the English “lust”; I would place it somewhere between “desire” and “lust” in English
Fate has smiled upon me
And has made a present for me
Threw me onto a warm star
Close to the skin, far from the eye
I take my fate into my own hand
My desire is fulfilled*
Where the sweet water dies
Because it is spoiled in the salt
I keep the Little Prince in mind
A king without a queen
When a woman strays to me
Then all the world becomes confused
Man against man
My skin belongs to men
Man against man
Like attracts like
Man against man
I am the servant of two lords**
Man against man
Like attracts like
I am the corner of all rooms
I am the shadow of all trees
No link is missing in my chain***
When the desire**** pulls from behind
My gender curses me as a traitor
I am the nightmare of all fathers
Man against man
My skin belongs to men
Man against man
Like attracts like
Man against man
But my heart does freeze on certain days
Man against man
Cold tongues that strike
Homo
I am not interested in balance
The sun shines onto my face
But my heart does freeze on certain days
Cold tongues that strike
Homo
Man against man
-------------------------------------------------------------
* - I’m not sure whether my translation is correct, but the intended wordplay is obviously that the verb “bemannt” has the word “Mann” in it
** – The word “Herr” can, of course, be translated as (gentle-)man, but “lord” sounded better in the context of servants
*** – “Glied”, when referring to a chain, means “link”, but it can also mean “member” in connection to genitalia
**** – The German “Lust” is not as strong as the English “lust”; I would place it somewhere between “desire” and “lust” in English
Lyrics submitted by paphan
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here is the actual translation:
Destiny smiled on me and gave me a present Threw me on a warm star [1] So close to the skin, so far from the eye I take my destiny in my own hands My desire is manned
Where the fresh water dies because it taints itself in salt I keep the Little Prince in mind A king without a queen When a woman is mistaken about me then the bright world is confused
Man against man My skin belongs to the gentlemen Man against man Birds of a feather flock together Man against man I am the servant of two masters Man against man Birds of a feather flock together
I am the corner of all rooms I am the shadow of all trees No link is missing in my chain [2] when lust pulls from behind My family calls me a traitor [3] I am the nightmare of all fathers
Man against man My skin belongs to the gentlemen Man against man Birds of a feather flock together
Man against man But my heart freezes on some days Man against man Cold tongues that beat there
Gay-ah [4]
I'm not interested in balance The sun shines in my face But my heart freezes on some days Cold tongues that beat there
Gay-ah Man gayfor man [5]
[1] "Warm" means the same as the English word "warm", but also is slang for "homosexual". Thus, the star is either warm or gay, or both.
[2] "Glied" can mean both "link" (of a chain) and "member" — that is, "penis".
[3] "Geschlecht" can mean many things: "sex", "gender", "family", "house", "generation", etc. It can also be short for "Geschlechtsteil" which means "genitals".
[4] The screaming ("Ah") has been combined with "Schwuler" to make "Schwulah". That, or it's similar to "playa" as opposed to "player", just changing the ending to sound "hip". [5] Gegen and "gay gen" sound the same. The former means "against", the latter "gay for".