"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.
Way down south I know a girl who is blind.
She walks alone along a lonely highway each day.
She dreams that one day a man will pull up in a car.
He'll open up the door, she'll climb in and he will say:
"Hey babe, whatcha know? Hope you're ready to go,
'Cause today's a perfect day to chase tornados."
Yeah when the wild wind whips around your head you know, that you have found a perfect day to chase tornados.
And what about that preacher man on the run from the law?
He killed a girl in Memphis and ran 'till the dogs tracked him down.
They shot him by the river and as he lay dying in the mud,
Well someone asked him, hey Preacher, where's your soul going now?
And Preacher said, "Well, I do not know, but wherever it is I'll gladly go...
'Cause today's a perfect day to chase tornados."
Yeah when the wild wind kicks around your head you know, that you have found a perfect day to chase tornados.
Sometimes I think that the sky is a prison and the earth is a grave.
And sometimes I feel like Jesus, in some Chinese opera.
And sometimes I'm glad I built my mansion from crazy little stones.
But sometimes I feel so goddamned trapped by everything that I know.
And I wish it wasn't so, cause the only thing that anyone should ever know
Is that today's a perfect day to chase tornados.
Yeah, when the wild wind whips around your head you know,
That you have found a perfect day to chase tornados.
She walks alone along a lonely highway each day.
She dreams that one day a man will pull up in a car.
He'll open up the door, she'll climb in and he will say:
"Hey babe, whatcha know? Hope you're ready to go,
'Cause today's a perfect day to chase tornados."
Yeah when the wild wind whips around your head you know, that you have found a perfect day to chase tornados.
And what about that preacher man on the run from the law?
He killed a girl in Memphis and ran 'till the dogs tracked him down.
They shot him by the river and as he lay dying in the mud,
Well someone asked him, hey Preacher, where's your soul going now?
And Preacher said, "Well, I do not know, but wherever it is I'll gladly go...
'Cause today's a perfect day to chase tornados."
Yeah when the wild wind kicks around your head you know, that you have found a perfect day to chase tornados.
Sometimes I think that the sky is a prison and the earth is a grave.
And sometimes I feel like Jesus, in some Chinese opera.
And sometimes I'm glad I built my mansion from crazy little stones.
But sometimes I feel so goddamned trapped by everything that I know.
And I wish it wasn't so, cause the only thing that anyone should ever know
Is that today's a perfect day to chase tornados.
Yeah, when the wild wind whips around your head you know,
That you have found a perfect day to chase tornados.
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
A Perfect Day to Chase Tornados Lyrics as written by Jim White
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Great version of a great song,
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Calm before the storm. A tornado always sneaks up on you. Blind girl thinks she's being saved, but she's in for a wild ride. Preacher, always confident in salvation, fucks up, but calm in death. If you're a hunter or veteran, you know the calm before dying. Moral, live it up while you can, you never know when this will end and the next begins, if there is a next. Even the preacher isn't sure
I've listened to this song thousands of times over the last 20 years. Here's how this song has had a major impact on my life. My take: Chasing Tornados is living life to the fullest or chasing your dreams.
The blind girl has a dream in her mind. She meets a guy, who picks her up, and says let's have a good time. A blind person has obstacles actually translating the visual world. And her dream is for an adventurous member of the opposite sex to pick her up, fall in love, and explain everything on their journey as they go.
The preacher verse is amazing! People can have all the dreams they want (like the blind girl). But you need to have the balls to face life and any crazy scenarios life throws at you. He is supposed to be a religious leader, just killed a girl, and gets ridiculed as a he lies on his death bed. He's about to answer for his actions to the great Creator. And he says screw it, no matter what happens next I am going to face this and the results of my actions/ behavior.
The last verse this author is expressing the confusions life brings to all of us. He feels like the sky is imprisoning his free spirit and the Earth is where we are stuck and will die in our lifetime. "Sometimes I feel like Jesus in some Chinese Opera". Have you ever felt out of place at a party, during a discussion, or just felt uncomfortable in your own skin or in your surroundings? He's proud of how hard he's worked to build his "mansion (success)" slowly and patiently. However, he is tortured by all he's learned along the way.
But in the end, none of that matters. All that matters is we have dreams, chase them, and live each day likes it our last. That's all that really matters.
Much Love to all!!