"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.
Usin' the phone booth,
Makin' a few calls,
Doodlin' weird things,
Usin' the booth walls.
Got me a big date,
Waitin' for my chick,
Puttin' my face on,
So she could look slick,
I enjoy procrastinating
'Cause I'm busy while I'm waiting,
Doodlin' away, doodlin away
Sittin' and dinin' (dining)
Dinner beginnin',
Started designin'
Usin' the linen,
Talkin' to my date,
Doodlin' my bit,
Waiter got salty,
Told me to please quit
Told the waiter, "Don't be dizzy,
"Can't you see I'm very busy,
"Doodlin' away, doodlin' away."
"Do you doodle all day?"
Asked the waiter in his way,
"Do you doodle all night?"
Told the waiter he was right,
"In your doodlin' way-"
"That's the way I'm gonna stay,"
"Are you thinkin' things right?"
"Doodlin' sheds a lot of light,"
"Don't know what I can do,"
"Ain't nothing you can do,"
"With old doodlin' you,"
"Doodin's all I want to do,"
That's for true!
Why does every single thing I see
Look exactly like a doodle to me?
If I ever have a doubt
What life is all about
I get my pencil out and then commence to doodlin'
And I find it real relaxing
'Specially when I feel that life is really taxing!
'Cause weird designs
They only show what's going on
In weirder minds
Those when you doodle then your noodle's flying blind
Every little thing that you write
Just conceivably might
Be a thought that you capture
While coppin' a wink
Doodlin' takes you beyond what you see
When you write what you think.
I'd feel so lost without my doodlin',
Doodlin' really helps me ease my mind,
I'd be tempest-tossed
Without my doodlin',
When I'm doodlin' there's one thing I find,
Truly, I really really really really really truly truly wanna figure out
What my doodlin's all about.
Later the waiter
Had me arrested,
Took me to Bellevue,
Where I was tested.
Had me a doctor
Probin' my noodle,
'Fore he was half-done,
Taught him to doodle,
Showed him hidden thoughts that linger
Find an outlet through your finger,
Doodlin' away, doodlin' away.
Doctor was real nice,
Told me to be cool,
Looked at the waiter,
Called him the real fool,
Looked at my baby
Told me he dug her,
Got me to doodlin',
So he could bug her,
When he put his arms around her,
Quite to his surprise he found her,
Doodlin' away, doodlin' away
We just doodle all day!
Makin' a few calls,
Doodlin' weird things,
Usin' the booth walls.
Got me a big date,
Waitin' for my chick,
Puttin' my face on,
So she could look slick,
I enjoy procrastinating
'Cause I'm busy while I'm waiting,
Doodlin' away, doodlin away
Sittin' and dinin' (dining)
Dinner beginnin',
Started designin'
Usin' the linen,
Talkin' to my date,
Doodlin' my bit,
Waiter got salty,
Told me to please quit
Told the waiter, "Don't be dizzy,
"Can't you see I'm very busy,
"Doodlin' away, doodlin' away."
"Do you doodle all day?"
Asked the waiter in his way,
"Do you doodle all night?"
Told the waiter he was right,
"In your doodlin' way-"
"That's the way I'm gonna stay,"
"Are you thinkin' things right?"
"Doodlin' sheds a lot of light,"
"Don't know what I can do,"
"Ain't nothing you can do,"
"With old doodlin' you,"
"Doodin's all I want to do,"
That's for true!
Why does every single thing I see
Look exactly like a doodle to me?
If I ever have a doubt
What life is all about
I get my pencil out and then commence to doodlin'
And I find it real relaxing
'Specially when I feel that life is really taxing!
'Cause weird designs
They only show what's going on
In weirder minds
Those when you doodle then your noodle's flying blind
Every little thing that you write
Just conceivably might
Be a thought that you capture
While coppin' a wink
Doodlin' takes you beyond what you see
When you write what you think.
I'd feel so lost without my doodlin',
Doodlin' really helps me ease my mind,
I'd be tempest-tossed
Without my doodlin',
When I'm doodlin' there's one thing I find,
Truly, I really really really really really truly truly wanna figure out
What my doodlin's all about.
Later the waiter
Had me arrested,
Took me to Bellevue,
Where I was tested.
Had me a doctor
Probin' my noodle,
'Fore he was half-done,
Taught him to doodle,
Showed him hidden thoughts that linger
Find an outlet through your finger,
Doodlin' away, doodlin' away.
Doctor was real nice,
Told me to be cool,
Looked at the waiter,
Called him the real fool,
Looked at my baby
Told me he dug her,
Got me to doodlin',
So he could bug her,
When he put his arms around her,
Quite to his surprise he found her,
Doodlin' away, doodlin' away
We just doodle all day!
Lyrics submitted by ButNeverOutgunned
Doodlin' Lyrics as written by Horace Silver
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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