"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.
Pull me up a chair
And keep your money
There's no guarantees
Won't you please forgive me?
But you know cold-blooded women make me sneeze
And I'll kick you out the door
If for just one minute you lie
They'll come crashing through the wall
And leave you crawling 'til the minute you die
Won't you sell a drink or three
And maybe we'll think clearer for a while
You may be an embarassment
But I love the way your clothes are never in style
If this much is too easy
I'm dying to be some kind of whore
Well you swear that you're original, I know
But I know I've seen those jealous eyes before
So steal a watch right off my wrist
Oh and shake me by the hand
We could disappear for days
And they wouldn't understand
Gypsy blood will get you far
And we will not miss you when you go
Tear another whole in my brown shoes
And we can all sleep for a while
Well I told you once before
I love your braces and your hesitant smile
Please don't get me wrong
It's only right that you can stamp on my heart
Well I see you and your friends someplace
You know I just can't tell you apart
And though they'll hunt you like a dog
But they won't take you alive
Cause your made big piles of money
Stacked up twenty storeys high
Well the boys in every bar
They will not miss you when you go
So steal the watch right off my wrist
Oh and shake me by the hand
We could disappear for days
And they wouldn't understand
Gypsy blood will get you far
Though it's far away from me
Look me up when you get home
Well they'll hunt you like a dog
But they won't take you alive
Cause you made big piles of money
Twenty storeys high
The boys in every bar
Well they'll miss you when you're gone
You can tell a Heady Tale
Will you both please scream along?
Lala
Lala
Lala...
And keep your money
There's no guarantees
Won't you please forgive me?
But you know cold-blooded women make me sneeze
And I'll kick you out the door
If for just one minute you lie
They'll come crashing through the wall
And leave you crawling 'til the minute you die
Won't you sell a drink or three
And maybe we'll think clearer for a while
You may be an embarassment
But I love the way your clothes are never in style
If this much is too easy
I'm dying to be some kind of whore
Well you swear that you're original, I know
But I know I've seen those jealous eyes before
So steal a watch right off my wrist
Oh and shake me by the hand
We could disappear for days
And they wouldn't understand
Gypsy blood will get you far
And we will not miss you when you go
Tear another whole in my brown shoes
And we can all sleep for a while
Well I told you once before
I love your braces and your hesitant smile
Please don't get me wrong
It's only right that you can stamp on my heart
Well I see you and your friends someplace
You know I just can't tell you apart
And though they'll hunt you like a dog
But they won't take you alive
Cause your made big piles of money
Stacked up twenty storeys high
Well the boys in every bar
They will not miss you when you go
So steal the watch right off my wrist
Oh and shake me by the hand
We could disappear for days
And they wouldn't understand
Gypsy blood will get you far
Though it's far away from me
Look me up when you get home
Well they'll hunt you like a dog
But they won't take you alive
Cause you made big piles of money
Twenty storeys high
The boys in every bar
Well they'll miss you when you're gone
You can tell a Heady Tale
Will you both please scream along?
Lala
Lala
Lala...
Lyrics submitted by simon_quine, edited by Elendor, lashcurler
A Heady Tale Lyrics as written by John Lawler
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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No comments yet? wow.....well, this is a great song, one of my faves from HWS. It's all about the price of fame & fortune & how it f*cks you up. Here today, gone tomorrow, as they say........