"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.
Headed down south to the land of the pines
And I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline
Starin' up the road
And pray to God I see headlights
I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh
I can see my baby tonight
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me
Runnin' from the cold up in New England
I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time string band
My baby plays the guitar
I pick a banjo now
Oh, the North country winters keep a gettin' me now
Lost my money playin' poker so I had to up and leave
But I ain't a turnin' back
To livin' that old life no more
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me
Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke
I caught a trucker out of Philly
Had a nice long toke
But he's a headed west from the Cumberland Gap
To Johnson City, Tennessee
And I gotta get a move on fit for the sun
I hear my baby callin' my name
And I know that she's the only one
And if I die in Raleigh
At least I will die free
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me
And I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline
Starin' up the road
And pray to God I see headlights
I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh
I can see my baby tonight
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me
Runnin' from the cold up in New England
I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time string band
My baby plays the guitar
I pick a banjo now
Oh, the North country winters keep a gettin' me now
Lost my money playin' poker so I had to up and leave
But I ain't a turnin' back
To livin' that old life no more
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me
Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke
I caught a trucker out of Philly
Had a nice long toke
But he's a headed west from the Cumberland Gap
To Johnson City, Tennessee
And I gotta get a move on fit for the sun
I hear my baby callin' my name
And I know that she's the only one
And if I die in Raleigh
At least I will die free
So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me
Lyrics submitted by AlkalineArmy
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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,
Okay, my boyfriend and i got high one night and discovered the meaning to this song.
Ok, the singer is a hitch hiker catching rides from various people in order to see his baby. ( thumbin' my way into North Caroline) The chorus (rock me..etc) is about the rocking of the train and the wagon because that's the life he's accustomed to and he's comfortable in those situations (wind and rain). The second verse they are all playin instruments he mentioned that he played the fiddle and that his baby plays the guitar so he plays the banjo now. We thought that meant like she almost persuaded him to play the banjo because it's more similar to the guitar and he thought of her as a better person than he because she didn't fuck up so he tried to be like her. The gambling part as well as the getting high part is part of the story of him fucking up and he doesn't want to get back into that shit and her not wanting to see him because he fucks up so much. The next verse took us a bit to figure out but essentially he's saying his love is the only one, he can hear her now, he wants to get to her. But if he dies, then at least he'll die doing what he loves, on his way to his love. Again, i have no idea. but that's our(mostly my boyfriends) interpretation.
I don't know why, but for me this song always relates to The Civil War and a solider trying to get back to his Wife/Girl. Mainly because of these lyrics..."And if I die in Raleigh At least I will die free".
I can't believe no one has commented on this song. It is by far one of the most beautiful cover songs i have ever heard and i can't help but feel at peace when ever i hear it. God i love this song.
I just found out about this song recently when I saw a bootleg video of Tom performing it at Generation Records. This is simply amazing, I love the cover even more than the original. You're right alicelikesme, this song leaves me at peace too.
sorry! I accidentally rated your comment negative, I agree with the both of you. I really like this cover, and the OCMS version too. I feel like a total jerk now...
yeah this is a beautiful song, i hate the original version but i just love the cover.
Whats wrong with the original?
This song's beautiful. Sticking to the roots of writing songs.
I was so excited when I first heard "Johnson City, Tennessee" in this song. I was born and raised an hour away from there, and that's where the closest mall is and where my friends and I hang out.
It just makes me feel at home everytime I hear it.
And my interpretation of it is very personal, and although it has very different meanings, "Rock me, Mama, rock me..." reminds me of my mother rocking me as a child.
I just love the way this song makes me feel. It was the first song I could naturally relate by Against Me!
Most of their songs are about politics, but sometimes, I just want to get away from those opinions for a moment and be reminded of where I truly come from as a person, before politics even made sense to me.
SInce its on the "Protect" Comp Im guessing it has to do with someone, literally, going back to his/her mother. THink about it, the human probably ran away, found out the real world sucked, and came back to his home town, to his mom, and his girl.
Its by OCMS, the comp its on when AM covered it has nothing to do with the meaning of the song.
To me it sounds like hes trying to go home whether its to his mother or his girl, what have you, seems to me its about having to move on, or being forced to deal with change. Got kicked out of school last semester down south listened to this song for three hours on the way up north going home, after leaving four years of good friends and good times, the fact that i got to get home was struggle enough, months in the making, i guess i really relate to the song to that specific situation, leaving, having some hope in coming home, but knowing that uncertainity still lies ahead.
THIS IS A BOB DYLAN COVER!!!!!!! Old Crow Medicine Show Covered It As Well As Many Others!!
@carriestupidhead Err, no. Bob Dylan wrote most of what would end up being the song but he never finished it. The whole song is an OCMS original.