"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.
Nothing is real,
I know this cause I made a deal,
With the devil he told me I was just wasting my time on the moon.
So I flew to the sun,
Lost track of my soul on the run,
Suffering 12 degree burns,
I learned that the sun was no fun.
So I ran back to earth,
Tripped and fell in the glorified dirt,
Honestly gravity sees me as a liability.
So I held my breath,
'Till my soul left my body for dead.
I ripped through the clouds to talk to the man in the sky.
I said take this for what it is,
I think you're a tad bit prejudice against,
The ones like us that are searching for the answers.
He said kid you don't know shit,
You should go back home and live,
In that quite little town you left behind.
I'm coming home,
Don't you cry, (don't you cry).
I'm coming home,
Just in time, (just in time).
I am a fake,
A constant go-getter of fate.
I lost track of time,
I carried my mind on a plate.
I seasoned it well,
With acid and MDMA.
Then I howled at the moon,
'Till the sun burned out both of my eyes.
So I checked my pulse,
Standing there white as a ghost.
I lacked in completion,
And stabbed my reflection twelve times.
So I held my breath,
'Till my soul left my body for dead.
I ripped through the clouds,
To talk to the man in the sky.
I said take this for what it is,
I think you're a tad bit prejudice against,
The ones like us that are searching for the answers.
He said kid you don't know shit,
You should go back home and live,
In that quite little town you left behind.
I'm coming home,
Don't you cry, (don't you cry).
I'm coming home,
Just in time, (just in time).
I don't know what I've been told,
I will sell my soul to rock and roll.
I don't know where to go,
I have lost control, oh no.
I don't know what I've been told,
I will sell my soul to rock and roll.
I don't know where to go,
I have lost control, oh no.
I don't know what I've been told,
I will sell my soul to rock and roll.
I don't know where to go,
I have lost control, oh no.
I don't know what I've been told,
I will sell my soul to rock and roll.
I don't know where to go,
I have lost control, oh no.
I know this cause I made a deal,
With the devil he told me I was just wasting my time on the moon.
So I flew to the sun,
Lost track of my soul on the run,
Suffering 12 degree burns,
I learned that the sun was no fun.
So I ran back to earth,
Tripped and fell in the glorified dirt,
Honestly gravity sees me as a liability.
So I held my breath,
'Till my soul left my body for dead.
I ripped through the clouds to talk to the man in the sky.
I said take this for what it is,
I think you're a tad bit prejudice against,
The ones like us that are searching for the answers.
He said kid you don't know shit,
You should go back home and live,
In that quite little town you left behind.
I'm coming home,
Don't you cry, (don't you cry).
I'm coming home,
Just in time, (just in time).
I am a fake,
A constant go-getter of fate.
I lost track of time,
I carried my mind on a plate.
I seasoned it well,
With acid and MDMA.
Then I howled at the moon,
'Till the sun burned out both of my eyes.
So I checked my pulse,
Standing there white as a ghost.
I lacked in completion,
And stabbed my reflection twelve times.
So I held my breath,
'Till my soul left my body for dead.
I ripped through the clouds,
To talk to the man in the sky.
I said take this for what it is,
I think you're a tad bit prejudice against,
The ones like us that are searching for the answers.
He said kid you don't know shit,
You should go back home and live,
In that quite little town you left behind.
I'm coming home,
Don't you cry, (don't you cry).
I'm coming home,
Just in time, (just in time).
I don't know what I've been told,
I will sell my soul to rock and roll.
I don't know where to go,
I have lost control, oh no.
I don't know what I've been told,
I will sell my soul to rock and roll.
I don't know where to go,
I have lost control, oh no.
I don't know what I've been told,
I will sell my soul to rock and roll.
I don't know where to go,
I have lost control, oh no.
I don't know what I've been told,
I will sell my soul to rock and roll.
I don't know where to go,
I have lost control, oh no.
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I was working one day listening to this song and I realized exactly what it means.
The moon represents lighter drugs (weed) he says but that was no fun so he ran to the sun. The sun is MDMA and Acid (He refers to these later. But the problem with these is that they will burn you out and take everything away. And destroy you that's what the "12th degree burns" and "the sun burned out both of my eyes" is referring too. The reason the song is called "Timetravel" is because the part where his soul left his body for dead is the future when he goes and talks to the man in the sky (God) and explains what did I do wrong I searched for you but you were a tad bit prejudiced to me what is up with that? In the end after this experience he goes back home and lives because he knows that he has messed up his life with the drugs and that the only thing that makes sense is going back home and just living. The part were he says "Gravity sees me as a liability" means that gravity just dosn't except him normal people and things of this earth don't except him and therfore he floats away to the moon and sun but in the end he dosn't know where he belongs and he looses control and figures the only thing he can do is sell his soul to rock and roll....
This is a super sad song to me because he is searching and I wish I could talk to him or anyone with this view on life because I felt this way once but now I realized what I was missing.
Hope this helps...
You explained this so well. After I checked out the lyrics and read your comment on it, it became so much more intense to me. The imagery and the metaphors he used in the lyrics were amazing, it felt personal. It's a very sad song...every time I listen to it it pierces my soul a little.
i totally agree wiff you cuz even thoe im a teen this song is life story
I think this song is about morality as well as drugs. The moon represents living his life morally good, but living a rebellious "bad" life seems appealing so he trys it out, that is represented by the sun. He realized the sun was too much for him so he finds a middle ground on morality, the earth. And even though it is a middle ground its much closer to the moon than the sun. Thats just my opinion on the first verse and it seems to match up decently with christopher's life since he went to church as a teenager but then got kick out of it and his home and went a little crazy
I interpret this song as being his life story. The album art itself explains a lot of it.
"Nothing is real, I know this cause I made a deal, with the devil, he told me I was just wasting my time on the moon."
"So I flew to the sun, lost track of my soul on the run, suffering 12 degree burns, I learned that the sun was no fun."
So I ran back to earth, Tripped and fell in the glorified dirt, Honestly gravity sees me as a liability. So I held my breath, 'Till my soul left my body for dead. I ripped through the clouds to talk to the man in the sky."
The second verse represents his time on drugs. "I am a fake, A constant go-getter of fate. I lost track of time, I carried my mind on a plate. I seasoned it well, with acid and MDMA. Then I howled at the moon, 'Till the sun burned out both of my eyes."
"So I checked my pulse, Standing there white as a ghost. I lacked in completion, And stabbed my reflection twelve times."