Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
They got married early, never had no money
Then when he got laid off, they really hit the skids
He started up his drinking, then they started fighting
He took it pretty badly, she took both the kids
She said, "I'm not standing by to watch you slowly die
So watch me walking out the door
Out the door, out the door"
She said, "Shove it, Jack, I'm walking out your fucking door"
She went to her brother's, got a little bar work
He went to the buttery, he stayed about a year
Then he wrote a letter, and said, "I want to see ya"
She thought he sounded better, she sent him up the fare
He was riding through the cane in the pouring rain
On Olympic to her door
To her door, to her door
To her door, to her door
And his heart was singing like a lowdown guitar
He came in on a Sunday, every muscle aching
Walking in slow motion like he'd just been hit
Did they have a future? Would he know his children?
Could he make a picture and get them all to fit?
He was shaking in his seat, riding through the streets
In a Silver Top to her
Shaking in his seat, riding through the streets
In a Silver Top to her door
To her door, to her door
To her door
Then when he got laid off, they really hit the skids
He started up his drinking, then they started fighting
He took it pretty badly, she took both the kids
She said, "I'm not standing by to watch you slowly die
So watch me walking out the door
Out the door, out the door"
She said, "Shove it, Jack, I'm walking out your fucking door"
She went to her brother's, got a little bar work
He went to the buttery, he stayed about a year
Then he wrote a letter, and said, "I want to see ya"
She thought he sounded better, she sent him up the fare
He was riding through the cane in the pouring rain
On Olympic to her door
To her door, to her door
To her door, to her door
And his heart was singing like a lowdown guitar
He came in on a Sunday, every muscle aching
Walking in slow motion like he'd just been hit
Did they have a future? Would he know his children?
Could he make a picture and get them all to fit?
He was shaking in his seat, riding through the streets
In a Silver Top to her
Shaking in his seat, riding through the streets
In a Silver Top to her door
To her door, to her door
To her door
Lyrics submitted by thunderball
To Her Door Lyrics as written by Paul Maurice Kelly
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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"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.
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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.
WHAT THERE ARE ONLY 5 COMMENTS FOR THIS SONG?! this song is sooo typically aussie and paul kelly is a genius and yes, it is "shove it jack i'm walking out your fucking door" love this song