"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.
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Well, you know you are my friend, yeah
Oh Deanna
And I ain't down here for your money
And I ain't down here for your love
I ain't down here for your mon-
I'm down here for your soul
Ain't no carpet on the floor
And the winding cloth holds many moths
Around your Ku Klux furniture
I cum a deaths-head in your frock
And we discuss the murder plan
We discuss murder and the murder act
Murder takes the wheel of the Cadillac
And death climbs in the back
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Sweet Deanna
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Well, this is a car
Oh Deanna
And this is a gun
Oh Deanna
And this a day number one
Oh Deanna
Of our little
Of our little crimeworn histories
Black and smoking Christmas trees
And honey, it ain't a mystery
Why you're a mystery to me
We will eat out of their pantries
And their parlors
Ashy leaving in their beds
And we'll unload into their heads
On this mean season
But this little angel that I'm squeezin'
She ain't been mean to me
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Well, you're my friend and my partner
Oh Deanna
On this house on the hill
Oh Deanna
And I ain't down here for your money
No, I ain't down here for your love
I ain't down here for your love or money
I'm down here for your soul
Oh Deanna
Oh, oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
I am a-knocking
Oh Deanna
With my toolbox and my stocking
Oh Deanna
Well I'll meet you on the corner
Yes, you point it like a finger
And squeeze its little thing
I hear its kick, I feel its bang
And let's not worry 'bout its issue
Don't worry about where it's been
And don't worry about where it hits
'Cause that ain't yours to sin
Oh Deanna
'Cause it just ain't your to sin
Oh Deanna
Oh, sweet Deanna
Oh Deanna
I ain't getting any younger
Oh Deanna
And you're my friend
Oh Deanna
The sun a hump at my shoulder
Oh Deanna
And I don't intend to get any older
Oh Deanna
Oh, oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Well, I ain't down here for your money
I ain't down here for your love
I ain't down here for your love of money
I'm down here for your soul
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Well, you know you are my friend, yeah
Oh Deanna
And I ain't down here for your money
And I ain't down here for your love
I ain't down here for your mon-
I'm down here for your soul
Ain't no carpet on the floor
And the winding cloth holds many moths
Around your Ku Klux furniture
I cum a deaths-head in your frock
And we discuss the murder plan
We discuss murder and the murder act
Murder takes the wheel of the Cadillac
And death climbs in the back
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Sweet Deanna
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Well, this is a car
Oh Deanna
And this is a gun
Oh Deanna
And this a day number one
Oh Deanna
Of our little
Of our little crimeworn histories
Black and smoking Christmas trees
And honey, it ain't a mystery
Why you're a mystery to me
We will eat out of their pantries
And their parlors
Ashy leaving in their beds
And we'll unload into their heads
On this mean season
But this little angel that I'm squeezin'
She ain't been mean to me
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Well, you're my friend and my partner
Oh Deanna
On this house on the hill
Oh Deanna
And I ain't down here for your money
No, I ain't down here for your love
I ain't down here for your love or money
I'm down here for your soul
Oh Deanna
Oh, oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
I am a-knocking
Oh Deanna
With my toolbox and my stocking
Oh Deanna
Well I'll meet you on the corner
Yes, you point it like a finger
And squeeze its little thing
I hear its kick, I feel its bang
And let's not worry 'bout its issue
Don't worry about where it's been
And don't worry about where it hits
'Cause that ain't yours to sin
Oh Deanna
'Cause it just ain't your to sin
Oh Deanna
Oh, sweet Deanna
Oh Deanna
I ain't getting any younger
Oh Deanna
And you're my friend
Oh Deanna
The sun a hump at my shoulder
Oh Deanna
And I don't intend to get any older
Oh Deanna
Oh, oh Deanna
Oh Deanna
Well, I ain't down here for your money
I ain't down here for your love
I ain't down here for your love of money
I'm down here for your soul
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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”
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.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
( re:D2D: the above interp: I like the comparison to a disturbing story of murder. (Natural Born Killers) My take differs in that I see the two at the beginning of their atrocities.)
Deanna is being instructed in the ways of some massive evil undertaking by a vile presence (likely masculine) in a manic and excited tone;
If I'm reading the lyrics accurately here after a re-listen, "he" "cums a death's head" on her frock; an unsettling image of semen staining girls clothing in the form of a skull (death's head) as they "discuss murder". the intersections between love, sex, violence, and death are never far apart in much of his poetry. I'll leave it to another to plumb those depths more precisely. I only point them out casually now.
These things are being introduced to her; she's new to this undertaking; perhaps new to evil itself. She's introduced to the car and the gun, and "this is day number one"; makes me imagine it's the start of training. Further that with the almost childish instructions on the use of a gun: "point it like a finger and"
"Squeeze it's little thing...", and so on...
The refrain does drive home "down here", though I see that as simply "here from somewhere else", as in "Hey, come on down for the weekend". Or, if he's otherworldly, the implication could be that this being is from "beyond" or "above", though not from the traditional Christian expectation of "above" : ) He may not be literal, either, only the voice of madness that so plainly tells her how to kill without remorse.
A man might pursue a woman for "love or money", but this one makes no pretense: He's here to consume all that is bright or constructive in her, swallowing it whole.
Nick Cave paints the best portraits of the worst in the human zoo.
-Phase
Yeah, interesting interpretation, I particularly like your reading of "I cum a death's head in her frock" seems reasonable as does the idea of training for further murderous acts.