"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.
Whoever bellows the loudest the victor
Who ain't buckin' shots at they shadows already fallen
When the time comes it'll be to my surprise
We smashed the clocks and joined the flocks just to watch doves gunned down from above
And you want it all, ideal wrapped in plastic
Fresh air comes free with it
Make sure that the alkaline levels are permanent
Drop us in, hold us to the flame
Tell us our new cities will be far cleaner than the old ones
And you the type to move to an island of birds and trees
When the birds are gone, you won't have enough wood to build a boat and sail home
So when they find you, and ask you what happened, its real simple
"Get rich or die trying."
Now I'm back in the swing of things
Like strange fruit in their good old days in Georgia
Like gypsies with baseball bats that beat us to a pulp, I see it now
And they can say rapping won't change anything...
Its not my fault words and morals hollowed out
And if we live "we live to thread on kings", and if we die we die only lonely and forgotten
If I ever make it to heaven, I hope they have a wireless connection
Where have I been?
In the bathtub reading Harper's
Things got much worse, but I'm chilling...
To cool to draw blood over life and it trivialities
I'll watch the Earth crack open, you'll fall in
Running around in purgatory looking for batteries
When the last buzzard eats the last candy bar from the last body on the San Andreas...
It'll be a sad day for investors
I'm of the Earth, like methane and sulfuric acid I can't trespass
Universal like radiation and freezing in the cosmos
Older than I feel, and easy going like anvils
Easy going like anvils that crush us while dancing
Pity me and American city
With high rent and neighbors that always bitch at the volume
No one understands, and if they understand they understand too well
Its a toss up, walk free to the finish, or flog up and down the gauntlet
Some day I'll make a fine president
I can tell by the way they throw stones
I can tell by the way I struggle for words, and the way the cookie crumbles before they get to eat
They say they care, but it's clear they don't
They say there's nothing to fear, but I know better
Running from obscurity and shoveling shit
On some heavy drugs, in some heavy book
The sky too, heavy, like crystallized smog
Cutting up my lungs and wishing I was dead, but I can't die yet
All my dents are in the dust
And I'm still punished by virtues I worked so hard to shed
My wife and my dogs is all I have
What you wanna take from me, my credit card debt?
Let the chips fall and crash the soles of our feet
Who ain't buckin' shots at they shadows already fallen
When the time comes it'll be to my surprise
We smashed the clocks and joined the flocks just to watch doves gunned down from above
And you want it all, ideal wrapped in plastic
Fresh air comes free with it
Make sure that the alkaline levels are permanent
Drop us in, hold us to the flame
Tell us our new cities will be far cleaner than the old ones
And you the type to move to an island of birds and trees
When the birds are gone, you won't have enough wood to build a boat and sail home
So when they find you, and ask you what happened, its real simple
"Get rich or die trying."
Now I'm back in the swing of things
Like strange fruit in their good old days in Georgia
Like gypsies with baseball bats that beat us to a pulp, I see it now
And they can say rapping won't change anything...
Its not my fault words and morals hollowed out
And if we live "we live to thread on kings", and if we die we die only lonely and forgotten
If I ever make it to heaven, I hope they have a wireless connection
Where have I been?
In the bathtub reading Harper's
Things got much worse, but I'm chilling...
To cool to draw blood over life and it trivialities
I'll watch the Earth crack open, you'll fall in
Running around in purgatory looking for batteries
When the last buzzard eats the last candy bar from the last body on the San Andreas...
It'll be a sad day for investors
I'm of the Earth, like methane and sulfuric acid I can't trespass
Universal like radiation and freezing in the cosmos
Older than I feel, and easy going like anvils
Easy going like anvils that crush us while dancing
Pity me and American city
With high rent and neighbors that always bitch at the volume
No one understands, and if they understand they understand too well
Its a toss up, walk free to the finish, or flog up and down the gauntlet
Some day I'll make a fine president
I can tell by the way they throw stones
I can tell by the way I struggle for words, and the way the cookie crumbles before they get to eat
They say they care, but it's clear they don't
They say there's nothing to fear, but I know better
Running from obscurity and shoveling shit
On some heavy drugs, in some heavy book
The sky too, heavy, like crystallized smog
Cutting up my lungs and wishing I was dead, but I can't die yet
All my dents are in the dust
And I'm still punished by virtues I worked so hard to shed
My wife and my dogs is all I have
What you wanna take from me, my credit card debt?
Let the chips fall and crash the soles of our feet
Lyrics submitted by Ru1ner
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.