"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.
Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry
When I take you out in the surrey
When I take you out in the surrey
With the fringe on top
Watch that fringe and see how it flutters
When I drive them high steppin' strutters
Nosey pokes'll peek thru their shutters
And their eyes will pop
The wheels are yellow, the upholstery's brown
The dashboard's genuine leather
With isinglass curtains y'can roll right down
In case there's a change in the weather
Two bright sidelight's winkin' and blinkin'
Ain't no finer rig I'm a thinkin'
You can keep your rig if you're thinkin'
'At I'd care to swap
For that shiny little surrey
With the fringe on the top
I can feel the night gettin' blurry
As we drive back home in the surrey
Driving slowly home in the surrey
With the fringe on top
I can feel the day gettin' older
Feel a sleepy head on my shoulder
Noddin', droopin' close to my shoulder
'Til it falls ker-plop
The sun is swimmin' on the rim of a hill
The moon is takin' a header
And just as I'm thinkin' all the earth is still
A lark'll wake up in the meader
Hush, you bird, my baby is sleepin'
Maybe got a dream worth a-keepin'
Whoa, you team, just keep a-creepin'
At a slow clip-clop
Don't you hurry with the surrey
With the fringe on the top
All those chicks, ducks and geese better scurry
When I take you out in the surrey
I'll take you out in the surrey
With the fringe on top
I'll take you out in the surrey
With the fringe on top
When I take you out in the surrey
When I take you out in the surrey
With the fringe on top
Watch that fringe and see how it flutters
When I drive them high steppin' strutters
Nosey pokes'll peek thru their shutters
And their eyes will pop
The wheels are yellow, the upholstery's brown
The dashboard's genuine leather
With isinglass curtains y'can roll right down
In case there's a change in the weather
Two bright sidelight's winkin' and blinkin'
Ain't no finer rig I'm a thinkin'
You can keep your rig if you're thinkin'
'At I'd care to swap
For that shiny little surrey
With the fringe on the top
I can feel the night gettin' blurry
As we drive back home in the surrey
Driving slowly home in the surrey
With the fringe on top
I can feel the day gettin' older
Feel a sleepy head on my shoulder
Noddin', droopin' close to my shoulder
'Til it falls ker-plop
The sun is swimmin' on the rim of a hill
The moon is takin' a header
And just as I'm thinkin' all the earth is still
A lark'll wake up in the meader
Hush, you bird, my baby is sleepin'
Maybe got a dream worth a-keepin'
Whoa, you team, just keep a-creepin'
At a slow clip-clop
Don't you hurry with the surrey
With the fringe on the top
All those chicks, ducks and geese better scurry
When I take you out in the surrey
I'll take you out in the surrey
With the fringe on top
I'll take you out in the surrey
With the fringe on top
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Surrey With the Fringe On Top Lyrics as written by Richard Rodgers Oscar Hammerstein Ii
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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