"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.
Well I took off running at the greatest speed
I didn't bother looking to either side of me
Well I didn't see, I just didn't see
What was really going on
The truth had stopped and the skyline rose
Exchanging comfort for more fashionable clothes
I'd left the hills at this point in time
To run on treadmills in a perfect line
Salad days add up to daily shit
Sparked imagination until the sparks just quit
And if this is fun, why am I so bored with it?
Well I'll probably never know
Guilty cocker spaniels eating table scraps
Well we rolled over, how our masters clapped
It felt so good we wanted more than that
But when the program failed they defensively laughed
We did things just how you asked
Don't try taking us to task
Didn't bite a face, no just a mask
So happy Halloween!
I drew a blank, we put it in a frame
Wait what you're winning, you didn't say this was a game
Well I guess I'll just have to play and play
Until I'm out of cash
Before I could spit it out
I guess the words had burnt my mouth
What can I say?
There's the thought I laid it down
So you could take it out of context
Either way
We said all along we deserve every bit
And mostly we knew that the supply would quit
But we got going, going just away with it
Until everybody lost their mind
Directly behind me and ahead of the time
But don't you worry he'll fall right in line
Yep, everything just might fly by
No ones getting blamed this time
Blame me so blameless
Can we find a way to blame our way out?
Well I postdated the eulogy
For every blameless body, nah nah
We are blamelessly teething
On much more than we need, nah nah nah
Blamelessly teething
Well we're all getting blamed
While everyone, everyone knew
Well everybody, everybody knew
I didn't bother looking to either side of me
Well I didn't see, I just didn't see
What was really going on
The truth had stopped and the skyline rose
Exchanging comfort for more fashionable clothes
I'd left the hills at this point in time
To run on treadmills in a perfect line
Salad days add up to daily shit
Sparked imagination until the sparks just quit
And if this is fun, why am I so bored with it?
Well I'll probably never know
Guilty cocker spaniels eating table scraps
Well we rolled over, how our masters clapped
It felt so good we wanted more than that
But when the program failed they defensively laughed
We did things just how you asked
Don't try taking us to task
Didn't bite a face, no just a mask
So happy Halloween!
I drew a blank, we put it in a frame
Wait what you're winning, you didn't say this was a game
Well I guess I'll just have to play and play
Until I'm out of cash
Before I could spit it out
I guess the words had burnt my mouth
What can I say?
There's the thought I laid it down
So you could take it out of context
Either way
We said all along we deserve every bit
And mostly we knew that the supply would quit
But we got going, going just away with it
Until everybody lost their mind
Directly behind me and ahead of the time
But don't you worry he'll fall right in line
Yep, everything just might fly by
No ones getting blamed this time
Blame me so blameless
Can we find a way to blame our way out?
Well I postdated the eulogy
For every blameless body, nah nah
We are blamelessly teething
On much more than we need, nah nah nah
Blamelessly teething
Well we're all getting blamed
While everyone, everyone knew
Well everybody, everybody knew
Lyrics submitted by Relapser, edited by sheionizes
Guilty Cocker Spaniels Lyrics as written by Eric Judy Dann Gallucci
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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"'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."
No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Amazing
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Page
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There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
"a corny old song of their's like tralier trash" - Wow, ummm, just so you know, every comment you make here on in regarding MM songs has no validity to it whatsoever. Even if you aren't a fan of the song, to call Trailer Trash corny is downright blasphemous; it's one of the greatest songs of all time.
even if you don't like it, saying it's corny when it is undeniably gritty and realistic is just wrong.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! it IS arguably one of the greatest songs of all times, and i think this person should be shanked for suggesting otherwise.
I could not agree more with this... That is the most ridiculous comment I've ever heard. In fact, in order to comment on this I had to take 5 minutes out of my day to create an account on this website, which wasn't a big deal, but that's how strongly I feel about this. <br /> <br /> Trailer Trash is an unbelievable song, and is my top 3 favorite MM songs to date (if not number 1). Whoever made that comment could have been drunk, or could have confused it with another Trailer Trash track... but a better prediction would be they just have terrible judgment on the topic.
i think the song is about how hollywood and society in general eventually change you without you realizing.
"Well I took off running at the greatest speed I didn't bother looking to either side of me Well I didn't see, I just didn't see What was really going on
The truth had stopped and the skyline rose Exchanging comfort for more fashionable clothes I'd left the hills at this point in time To run on treadmills in a perfect line"
its like hes saying, "i was so excited that i just jumped right in without thinking about the concequences" (I took off running at the greatest speed I didn't bother looking to either side of me). and then the lines about "Exchanging comfort for more fashionable clothes" and "run on treadmills in a perfect line" make me think hes talking about conforming. and then the guilty cocker spaniel lines are about how people do anything for approval, even though it's only temporary and means they have to lower themselves.
"Guilty cocker spaniels eating table scraps Well we rolled over, how our masters clapped It felt so good we wanted more than that But when the program failed they defensively laughed"
altogether its a pretty good song.
I agree with you here 100 percent, but you know what's coming... <br /> <br /> All of the 'fans' who keep whining about how Modest Mouse 'sold out' are going to be interpreting your interpretation as Isaac realizing how much the band has changed without him realizing it, and they'll completely turn it into another whine fest.<br /> <br /> Just sayin'.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, however it seems abundantly clear to me that this song is about a person experiencing an existentialist crisis - something which the vast majority of us are plagued with in today's consumer age.
"Well I took off running at the greatest speed I didn't bother looking to either side of me Oh, I did not see, I just did not see what was really going on"
The first bit is about the rat race. It's such an excellent metaphor for how people waste away the prime of their lives behind a desk in a desperate attempt to get ahead of the "game" (this is another aspect of the song which I will go into more detail later); tirelessly working away to make money to buy stuff we don't really need.
"The trees had stopped and the skyline rose Exchanging comfort for more fashionable clothes I left the hills at this point in time To run on treadmills in a perfect line."
How brilliantly written! How true! We HAVE left the things we find comfortable behind. And why? Because we are afraid. Look around you. Advertisement preys on our fears - you exercise because you are afraid you're too fat (barely anyone runs for the sake of enjoyment, too many people are far too concerned with "calorie counting" and whatnot); you buy nice clothes because you are afraid of looking sloppy; you buy an iPhone because you fear being the only one without one. and the list goes.
Then the song goes:
"Salad days add up to daily shit Sparking imagination till the sparks just quit And if this is fun why'm I so bored with it? Well I'll probably never know"
Again, the term "salad days" is a metaphor for the routines people adopt as a result of their fears. It could anything from a diet plan, to the job you do daily to pay off your debts for that condo you just bought. And this brain-numbing, mundane things we do, just adds up to the "daily shit" we are faced with. We have ceased to think for ourselves, and our existence is one which is driven by our dears. We do things because we think we need to do them, and not because we want to do them. Hence, "sparking imagination till the sparks just quit. And if this is fun why'm I so bored with it? Well I'll probably never know"
I could go on, but I'm too lazy to finish this analysis
I think this song says alot about conformity. We have all been trained to go to school, get a job and make a living. Follow the rules and be rewarded. Puppies are also broken in with rewards for obeying their master. First fall in line, then become complacent and lose your spark.
There also seems to be a heavy theme about how much excess we have in all our lives. Everybody feels like they deserve what they have, so nobody can or will blame anyone else. Resources are limited, but as long as we get by in our generation, who cares about the future ones?
I really love how Isaac's voice changes with the music throughout the song. In the beginning, its playful and apologetic, then it starts to become more serious as the song progresses until it peaks with violent thrashing of instruments and vocal insanity near the end. Simply Brilliant!
My stab at them from the studio version. Some are very hard to understand. Feel free to correct me.
I fucking love Modest Mouse and understand most of their songs.<br /> <br /> I have no clue what is going on in this song.
@fwaffy how can you have no clue what was going on in this song? it's among their easiest to decipher..
"But when the program failed they defensively laughed, saying<br /> 'We did things just how you asked<br /> Don't try taking us to task!'<br /> You didn't buy a face, nope just a mask<br /> So happy Halloween!"<br /> <br /> "Best of all I laid it down<br /> So you could take it out of context either way"<br /> <br /> those are the correct lyrics! :) just small litle things.
The line is,
Didn't BUY a face, no just a mask So happy halloween
I thought about that but it makes more sense in the context of a dog biting a face. Not buying a face.
He's talking in the context of purchasing a mask for Halloween, so in that sense "buying" a face does make sense, even if it can't be taken literally.
He's biting the mask, which is a face, just not a real one.
actually i think it's <br /> <br /> didn't buy a face, nope just a mask<br /> <br /> the nope run together with face it what makes it sound almost like "facebook"
I think it's <br /> <br /> didn't buy a face, but just a mask.<br /> <br /> but sounds a lot like book. just sayin.
it's definatly BUY a face i've got the book from the CD case and thats what it says BUY a face<br /> <br /> "you didn't buy a face, nope just a mask. So happy halloween!!"
at the very end of the song (last 3 seconds or so) you can hear two people say "that one seemed good" and "yeah that was pretty good." you'll have to turn the volume way up to hear it though
isaac brock is in his prime... just throwing that out there.
@mcinstuff writers, true naturally gifted writers don’t need a prime, and also use time and experience for there craft
This song is entirely about the American financial mess that recently occurred.
Sounds substance related to me, given Isaac's heavy abuse in the past and how he's trying to get past that now.