"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.
You walk into the ballroom like
The cough, the wind, the rain was right
And all them heads went left to right
Then out with the lights
It was a break in time
I know your mechanisms
You became like that
One which your heart was fixed
Before I knew what was which
Out with the lights
There's a picture of you
Standing there in my black wig
Looking like, who thinks they know who
Standing there in my black wig
I came here for the noise
You always look good that way
You with the one-two punch from Illinois
If you lean any harder
That window breaks at the bone
And when that light turns back again
You will remember the way
They fall for you like a brick
Oh but nobody loves you
Or woos you when you're down or kicked
Out go the lights
Never see that counterpoint
You always look good that way
You with the one-two punch
You always look good that way
The cough, the wind, the rain was right
And all them heads went left to right
Then out with the lights
It was a break in time
I know your mechanisms
You became like that
One which your heart was fixed
Before I knew what was which
Out with the lights
There's a picture of you
Standing there in my black wig
Looking like, who thinks they know who
Standing there in my black wig
I came here for the noise
You always look good that way
You with the one-two punch from Illinois
If you lean any harder
That window breaks at the bone
And when that light turns back again
You will remember the way
They fall for you like a brick
Oh but nobody loves you
Or woos you when you're down or kicked
Out go the lights
Never see that counterpoint
You always look good that way
You with the one-two punch
You always look good that way
Lyrics submitted by inak, edited by Dr. Hellno
Out Go the Lights Lyrics as written by Britt Daniel
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Great version of a great song,
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I love this song so much. A few corrections from the booklet:
Seriously though, sometimes I think that Spoon doesn't give their lyrics to their label, and the company might even have interpreted them. Personally I think that "breaks at the bone" sounds better and fits better. Same with "out with the lights" and "woos you when you're down or kicked" and most of the other ones.
I love how in the end of the song there's that strange clanking and grinding. It always reminds me of like a reactor shutting down or a power plant failing or something. It's great. It really makes the song feel like it's breaking down and dying in the end. :)
Cheers.