"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.
They're gonna lay me low (lay me low)
They're gonna sink me in the snow
They're gonna throw back their heads and crow
When I go
They're gonna jump and shout (lay me low)
They're gonna wave their arms about
All the stories will come out
When I go
All the stars will all glow bright (lay me low)
And my friends will give up the fight
They'll see my work in a different light
Yeah, when I go
And they'll try telephoning my mother (lay me low)
But they'll end up getting my brother
Who'll spill the story on some long-gone lover
That I hardly know
Hats off to the man
On top of the world
Come crawl up here, baby
And I'll show you how it works
If you wanna be my friend
And you wanna repent
And you want it all to end
And you wanna know when
Well do it now don't care how
Take your final bow
Make a stand take my hand
And blow it all to hell
They're gonna inform the police chief (lay me low)
Who'll breathe a sigh of relief
He'll say I was a malanderer, a badlander, and a thief
Yeah, when I go
They will interview my teachers (lay me low)
Who'll say I was one of god's sorrier creatures
They'll print informative six-page features
When I go
They'll bang a big old gong (lay me low)
The motorcade will be ten miles long
The world will join together for a farewell song
When they put me down below
They'll sound a fluegelhorn (lay me low)
And the sea will rage, and the sky will storm
All man and beast will mourn
When I go
Hats off to the man
On top of the world
Come crawl up here, baby
And we can watch this damn thing turn
If you wanna be my friend
And you wanna repent
And you want it all to end
And you wanna know when
Well do it now, do it now
Take a long last bow
Take my hand make a stand
And blow it all to hell
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Yeah when I go
Yeah, when I
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Yeah when I go
Lay me low
Yeah lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
They're gonna sink me in the snow
They're gonna throw back their heads and crow
When I go
They're gonna jump and shout (lay me low)
They're gonna wave their arms about
All the stories will come out
When I go
All the stars will all glow bright (lay me low)
And my friends will give up the fight
They'll see my work in a different light
Yeah, when I go
And they'll try telephoning my mother (lay me low)
But they'll end up getting my brother
Who'll spill the story on some long-gone lover
That I hardly know
Hats off to the man
On top of the world
Come crawl up here, baby
And I'll show you how it works
If you wanna be my friend
And you wanna repent
And you want it all to end
And you wanna know when
Well do it now don't care how
Take your final bow
Make a stand take my hand
And blow it all to hell
They're gonna inform the police chief (lay me low)
Who'll breathe a sigh of relief
He'll say I was a malanderer, a badlander, and a thief
Yeah, when I go
They will interview my teachers (lay me low)
Who'll say I was one of god's sorrier creatures
They'll print informative six-page features
When I go
They'll bang a big old gong (lay me low)
The motorcade will be ten miles long
The world will join together for a farewell song
When they put me down below
They'll sound a fluegelhorn (lay me low)
And the sea will rage, and the sky will storm
All man and beast will mourn
When I go
Hats off to the man
On top of the world
Come crawl up here, baby
And we can watch this damn thing turn
If you wanna be my friend
And you wanna repent
And you want it all to end
And you wanna know when
Well do it now, do it now
Take a long last bow
Take my hand make a stand
And blow it all to hell
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Yeah when I go
Yeah, when I
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Yeah when I go
Lay me low
Yeah lay me low
Lay me low
Lay me low
Lyrics submitted by Songmeaningsuser
Lay Me Low Lyrics as written by Nicholas Cave
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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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"
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
It's basically Nick having a go at what will happen when he dies. Filled with irony of course, but a lot of it seems like qualified guesses if you think of what happens after someone famous dies - for instance everyone who ever knew the person suddenly has an opinion. Quite sad to be in that position and think about how everyone will act when you die... But surely a beautiful song.
"If you wanna be my friend And you wanna repent And you want it all to end And you wanna know when Well do it now Do it now Take a long last bow Take my hand Make a stand And blow it all to hell"
This is an invitation, beckoning to the next world: Kill yourself.
Well that's not very uplifting; warm; and fuzzy. Geesh...
This song is the final testament of a contentious figure, perhaps a John Dillinger-esque man, about whom everyone has an opinion, summing up how everyone will speculate and celebrate when he dies. The immense amount of conflicting views towards him included in the song creates the idea that no-one truly knew the narrator at all, perhaps explaining his bitter and cynical outlook towards the world and his acceptance of his imminent death.
Absolutely superb.
absolutely !! beuatiful song !
1 of 5 (and number 1 on that list) of songs i want played at my funeral. Amazing song.
Did anybody ever catch that sopranos promo right before the last season where they showed everyone's death scene with this song playing in the background. I think you can youtube it - do so - its fantastic - even if you don't care for the show - i couldn't believe it when i heard "their gonna lay me low" start up at the beginning of it - i damn near lost my mind.
about whats going to happen when he dies, predicting how everyone will react "come crawl up here baby and we'll watch this damn thing turn" asking people to follow almost? to see the world from heven and the "man on top of the world" god? i dunno i just dig this song so bad yep at my funeral too
damnit. when i first heard this song i thought yeah they gonna play this at my funneral too. lol
Sounds like a bad case of paranoia...
My roomate and good friend played this song last evening. We had a good evening together and laughed quite a bit. This morning I found him, he had hung himself in his bedroom. This song means a lot, and will forever.