"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.
Woke up with fingers crossed
In a boy's bed with your pants off.
After polite declines of coffee and toast,
walked home on Mission in last night's clothes.
Past the Phone Booth and the Beauty Bar,
the broken windows of your neighbors' cars.
Through the backdoor to a message from Sis,
asking, "Who was your New Year's kiss?"
Took the afternoon to piece it all,
plus a half a dozen phone calls.
Crashed a party with Larissa and Chris
in pursuit of a New Year's kiss.
Not the way that you'd imagined it.
On a balcony with champagne lips.
But in a pantry against the pancake mix,
you had your New Year's kiss.
In a boy's bed with your pants off.
After polite declines of coffee and toast,
walked home on Mission in last night's clothes.
Past the Phone Booth and the Beauty Bar,
the broken windows of your neighbors' cars.
Through the backdoor to a message from Sis,
asking, "Who was your New Year's kiss?"
Took the afternoon to piece it all,
plus a half a dozen phone calls.
Crashed a party with Larissa and Chris
in pursuit of a New Year's kiss.
Not the way that you'd imagined it.
On a balcony with champagne lips.
But in a pantry against the pancake mix,
you had your New Year's kiss.
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Cajun Girl
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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”
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."
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."
more than just about a new years kiss... this girl lost her virginity at a party to a boy she didnt know (hence the impersonal use of the word 'boy' rather than a name) and didnt even remember it. what she had imagined as being fun and romantic (on a balcony with champagne lips), ended up being tacky and awkward.
i don´t think, it is girl, that lost her virginity! ;-) you know!
obviously about drunk meaningless sex, and the loss of a girls virginity.
why do you think this song is about a girl losing her virginity?
its about a girl that goes out looking for a kiss on new years.. gets drunk.. and sleeps with someone she doesnt know.. never says anything about her losing her virginity. (it actually never even says that she had sex.. just because her pants were off doesnt mean she had sex.) but i believe it is implied.
halebopp knows what's up. it's about a BOY who did these things that broke his heart. he's gay - i'm pretty sure.
Either way, I think this song focuses around a teenagers life, whether it be a boy or girl, and the confusion set around one's own identity. It's true that when we're young, we try to identify ourselves socially to sort of mold ourselves psychologically. The narrator knows this subconsciously, but can't make out what it all means; the confused reference to sex, crashing a party for social acceptance, and the awkward new year's kiss all point out to a confused teens trying to find him/herself. A very realistic song that makes you thankful you survived your teenage years :-p.
my take is that it is a girl who is the subject. "Woke up with fingers crossed" makes me think of an unprotected sexual encounter with the typical teenage reaction to hope that nothing goes wrong.
i think it's also about the way new year symbolises the hope of a new beginning and new possibilities. the crashing of the party, is the lure of the unknown and the hope that she'll meet someone there that will fulfil her dreams. of course, it didn't work out that way so she just made do with a random guy.
I get the impression it's about a girl who's slept with a boy.
So that's why I think the story is about a girl.
Mero,<br /> <br />
I'd listen to this song and sometimes think back to these comments. Whether the 'protagonist' in this song is a boy or a girl. After downloading the MP3 of this song from CTFTPA's website (a version from 2008) the cover art drawn by Owen is two guys kissing. But before i saw this i also pictured him as a male in my mind. I suppose it doesn't matter - and in a way it's better that he was genderless. Just thought i'd share incase anyone else out there had wondered this for years like me.
I love it when you recognize places in songs. I spent 3 months in San Francisco this year and walked past the Phone Booth and the Beauty Bar on Mission a dozen times and now the song's atmosphere is even stronger. Anyway. I have to second thewahwah's idea about the song's protagonist crossing her fingers, hoping she didn't get pregnant.
I don\'t think it\'s "walked home itching in last night\'s clothes." \n\nI hear "walked home ON MISSION," i.e. on the street that the bars are (were?) located.\n[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Street](http://nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Street)