"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.
Going round in circles,
Directions all messed up
I go to ground on a bottle of wine
And drown myself in the flood.
My frozen toes are beginning to melt
I believe I'm catching a cold.
Got oil on my feathers and I can't fly
Gotta go back to your love.
I'm a clown without a circus
There's no one to see my act.
I can laugh and sing and stand on my head,
Nobody knows where I'm at.
It's hard to be convincing
When these blues don't give an inch.
I ain't exactly losing,
But I'm beginning to feel the pinch.
(chorus)
My days are long and lonely,
And I feel so insecure,
There ain't nothing funny, I'm losing you honey.
I can't laugh anymore.
I can't laugh anymore.
Going round in circles,
Compass is all messed.
I'm going to ground on a bottle of wine,
Drown myself in the flood.
My frozen toes are beginning to melt
I believe I'm catching a cold,
Got all of my feathers and I can't fly,
Gotta go back to your love.
Old Chang surely told me
Not to mess with what you got.
But I went stomping all over your head
Like a bull in a China shop.
(chorus)
I'm a clown without a circus,
There's no one to see my act.
I can laugh and sing and stand on my head,
Nobody knows where I'm at.
Going round in circles,
Directions all messed up.
Going to ground on a bottle of wine
Drown myself in the flood.
Directions all messed up
I go to ground on a bottle of wine
And drown myself in the flood.
My frozen toes are beginning to melt
I believe I'm catching a cold.
Got oil on my feathers and I can't fly
Gotta go back to your love.
I'm a clown without a circus
There's no one to see my act.
I can laugh and sing and stand on my head,
Nobody knows where I'm at.
It's hard to be convincing
When these blues don't give an inch.
I ain't exactly losing,
But I'm beginning to feel the pinch.
(chorus)
My days are long and lonely,
And I feel so insecure,
There ain't nothing funny, I'm losing you honey.
I can't laugh anymore.
I can't laugh anymore.
Going round in circles,
Compass is all messed.
I'm going to ground on a bottle of wine,
Drown myself in the flood.
My frozen toes are beginning to melt
I believe I'm catching a cold,
Got all of my feathers and I can't fly,
Gotta go back to your love.
Old Chang surely told me
Not to mess with what you got.
But I went stomping all over your head
Like a bull in a China shop.
(chorus)
I'm a clown without a circus,
There's no one to see my act.
I can laugh and sing and stand on my head,
Nobody knows where I'm at.
Going round in circles,
Directions all messed up.
Going to ground on a bottle of wine
Drown myself in the flood.
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by CptAlpha
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For a long time, I thought the song was about a person feeling lost after a breakup. The bewilderment was always so obvious to me "going round in circles, compass is all messed up" "Got oil on my feathers and I can't fly" (oil possibly representing his hate during the relationship, because when you're in love, everything seems light: it's as if you were flying), and also, well the chorus just states that his days are "long and lonely". The clown metaphor (which I found extremely moving, by the way) was, still back then to me, a pure example of his loneliness despite his many efforts and commitment ("I can laugh and sing and stand on my head: nobody knows where I'm at"); sometimes when you want to impress your crush, you become a whole unrecognisable person, like putting on a mask or 'putting on an act'. I also find it interesting that later on he says "I can't laugh anymore" when he specifically said it was part of his act, which means one thing: he lost his ability to amuse. He lost a part of his identity. And I find the "old Chang surely told me" part rather self explanatory. The reason the relationship didn't work out was his own fault.
And then, I realised something not too long ago: all of the song is a description of a pilot landing a plane (and let's be obvious: the album's cover shows it all, and after a bit of research, I found a few photos of the whole band with pilot suits on. I wonder though what drove the band so much for flying, but maybe this is the concept of the album?? Idk) and I find it explains everything. His trajectory is going in circles because he probably broke his compass. He is on a bottle of wine because he feels dizzy after flying so much. The clown without a circus is basically the pilot saying "I'm making all of these circles around in the air like a stage performance, but no one's watching anyway". And well, the "my frozen toes are beginning to melt, I believe I'm catching a cold" part is obvious. The bull in the China shop part is because his aircraft was hard to control as he tried reducing speed on the landing runway, maybe? In any case, the pilot metaphor somehow makes more sense I find.
An amazing song!!! And the rest of the album is stunning!! Pure prog at its best!!!
@CptAlpha<br /> <br /> Great interpretation Cap !<br /> <br /> Mostly everything you wrote makes absolutely sense.<br /> There's one little thing I would like to add though.<br /> "But I went stompin' all over your head" obviously means that he treated his partner badly. "Like a bull in a china shop" just means really, really badly and has not really anything to do with the aircraft. Don't you think ?<br /> <br /> Unfortunately I can identify myself with the lyrics which makes the song even sadder . . . but just for me.<br /> <br /> Watch and Chance must have been the band's summit, at least in my eyes. It was the first "real" music that I was listening to at the age of 7 and 9. English not being my native language, I didn't grasp a word at that time, but I devoured the music.