"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.
Somebody please say a prayer for me tonight
I'm feelin' lost and there's no hope in sight
Tryin' to hold on to the vision
So hard when you're down
I'd trade an ounce of hard earned wisdom just to get out
CHORUS
You'll never know, till you've been broken
With the weight of the world in your hands
Don't want to know
Heart full of sorrow
Nobody loves you when you're broken
Broken down
No money, no place to lay my head down
Nobody to drive away the tears..
And if I get my hunger again oh yeah
And if I get that feelin' again
It's all the same
CHORUS
You'll never know, till you've been broken
With the weight of the world in your hands
Don't want to know
Heart full of sorrow
Nobody loves you when you've spoken
The last kind words you know
And I don't wanna lie broken
On the ground
I'm feelin' lost and there's no hope in sight
Tryin' to hold on to the vision
So hard when you're down
I'd trade an ounce of hard earned wisdom just to get out
CHORUS
You'll never know, till you've been broken
With the weight of the world in your hands
Don't want to know
Heart full of sorrow
Nobody loves you when you're broken
Broken down
No money, no place to lay my head down
Nobody to drive away the tears..
And if I get my hunger again oh yeah
And if I get that feelin' again
It's all the same
CHORUS
You'll never know, till you've been broken
With the weight of the world in your hands
Don't want to know
Heart full of sorrow
Nobody loves you when you've spoken
The last kind words you know
And I don't wanna lie broken
On the ground
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Broken Lyrics as written by Tift Merritt
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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Yo La Tengo
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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,
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