"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.
Knock knock knock
Sound the blows to the forehead from the
Mock mock mock
Of the words, a voice I hear every morning
Life stalking me from yesterday
The taunts of one who sought to frame
The picture of this desolate
This figure cowering
Every word a double edged sword
A double edged sword
My every word
Drop drop drop
Sound the sledge to the metal
Shot shot shot
Sound the pin to the chamber
My own words pound after me
Intentions bent on conquering
The very will I proudly claimed
Was the very axe that cut the nape
Every word a double edged sword
A double edged sword
My every word
(I'll never, ever look back
Sitting still, sitting still
Arrogant mindset of lusts
They search and strain and drink and stagger
When we are hollow
Sitting still, sitting still
You hate us cause we'll never go away)
"You can drown
In your own mistakes
Burrowing into the black
Or you can take my hand"
Double, edged, sword
My every word
"This gift was never yours
So why would you ever think
That the words you said were your own?
I have chosen and breathed and forgiven and changed and purged
And cleaned and forgave and bathed and carried and soothed and burned
And spoken and spoken and spoken and spoken and spoken and spoken
And spoken, yours is not to proclaim, but only to obey"
Sound the blows to the forehead from the
Mock mock mock
Of the words, a voice I hear every morning
Life stalking me from yesterday
The taunts of one who sought to frame
The picture of this desolate
This figure cowering
Every word a double edged sword
A double edged sword
My every word
Drop drop drop
Sound the sledge to the metal
Shot shot shot
Sound the pin to the chamber
My own words pound after me
Intentions bent on conquering
The very will I proudly claimed
Was the very axe that cut the nape
Every word a double edged sword
A double edged sword
My every word
(I'll never, ever look back
Sitting still, sitting still
Arrogant mindset of lusts
They search and strain and drink and stagger
When we are hollow
Sitting still, sitting still
You hate us cause we'll never go away)
"You can drown
In your own mistakes
Burrowing into the black
Or you can take my hand"
Double, edged, sword
My every word
"This gift was never yours
So why would you ever think
That the words you said were your own?
I have chosen and breathed and forgiven and changed and purged
And cleaned and forgave and bathed and carried and soothed and burned
And spoken and spoken and spoken and spoken and spoken and spoken
And spoken, yours is not to proclaim, but only to obey"
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Fast Car
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Page
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Alright, this song is talking about a man who has said something wrong to someone and it has come back to him. a double edged sword is talking about your words, not only can they hurt someone but they can also come back and hurt you. and its talking about how is words came back and got him.
The first verse it talking about when his/her words catch up with him at first
chorus-double edge sword(go back to top of comment)
second verse talks about what is happening to him "My own words pound after me Intentions bent on conquering The very will I proudly claimed Was the very axe that cut the nape" its talking about his words he used to tear someone down and conquer them, are now being used against him and taking him down
i agree that "You can drown In your own mistakes Burrowing into the black Or you can take my hand" is suppose to be a quote from Jesus or God
and the very end
"Yours is not to proclaim... But only to obey" Its talking about how its not your job to condemn people, but to obey God and leave it to him.
basically, yeah. that's pretty much what i'm about to say, but i'll say it anyway because i'm a conceited jerk (sorry guys)<br /> <br /> he's talking about himself and all the words he ever spoke, sang, or screamed (hence the lyrics he's saying in the backgorund. all of those lines are from his other albums (alreayd been stated).<br /> <br /> but the thing i got from it is that it is a self-reminder that what you say always comes back to you. the words were from God to others and he, too, must live by them also. idk, it sounds a lot like the cliche "practice what you preach".<br /> and it really challenged me when i figured it out. we can learn from other people's experiences.<br /> "your to proclaim but only to obey."<br /> the same judgment will be passed upon him as well as those who hear his songs.<br /> <br /> ~]nr[~