"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.
Last night all my attention
Squinting westward at the sunset
With a map and a compass
When a man reached up said something
There
Against the sky
A point of light
Too
Invisible
To give itself
To the naked eye
On the shore people yellin'
In their eyes a great reflection
In the grid oh where their position
Unconcerned with intuition
There
Could never be
No sympathy
From
That wilderness
So let it be
Arrested
Swing low oh Magellan
Nine by six or eight by seven
Post a sentinel at the border
Of what what you attend
What you ignore
I saw my friend
In a pool of light
Oh drown
In doubt and shame
But I knew that I
Had lost my sight
Squinting westward at the sunset
With a map and a compass
When a man reached up said something
There
Against the sky
A point of light
Too
Invisible
To give itself
To the naked eye
On the shore people yellin'
In their eyes a great reflection
In the grid oh where their position
Unconcerned with intuition
There
Could never be
No sympathy
From
That wilderness
So let it be
Arrested
Swing low oh Magellan
Nine by six or eight by seven
Post a sentinel at the border
Of what what you attend
What you ignore
I saw my friend
In a pool of light
Oh drown
In doubt and shame
But I knew that I
Had lost my sight
Lyrics submitted by blahblah123123
Swing Lo Magellan Lyrics as written by David Donnell Longstreth
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"I saw my frame in a pool of light"
A 9x6 and an 8x7 rectangle have the same circumference (= 30). My boyfriend pointed that out for me (thanks!). Still, not sure if it's significant.
Excellent observation by your bf! Lead singer/primary songwriter David Longstreth turned 30 years-old recently which may be what the 30 would refer to. Perhaps he is reflecting on turning 30 by saying that when you reach that age (or any age) your journey along the way is what matters. Who knows...
What? For one thing, 9x6 = 54, and 8x7 = 56, neither are 30. Secondly, rectangles dont have circumference, they have perimeter. And thirdly, multiplying the length x width gives you area, not perimeter. You add to get perimeter.
@shmortisborg - the only mistake @tpdewhurst made was to say 'circumference' instead of 'perimeter' (an understandable slip, given circumference is essentially a certain type of perimeter). You point that out, so I don't understand why you start multiplying the numbers and then make the point that multiplying length x width gives area. No one was suggesting to multiply. The insight of tpdewhurst's post remains valid -- the perimeter of either a 9x6 or an 8x7 rectangle is 30.
This song sounds like it's lamenting the ease of navigation in the modern age.
The "ball of light" is a GPS satellite - invisible to the naked eye.
The people on the shore are using handheld GPS that reflects in their eyes - "in the grid, aware their position."
"Magellan" refers to a specific brand of GPS unit that the narrator uses, seeing his frame in its pool of light and being disappointed that he cannot navigate by intuition.
"9 by 6 or 8 by 7" may refer to some technical aspect of GPS.
There could be other meanings too, but this aspect seems straightforward.
This song explores the issue of what constitutes our reality. During the age of exploration we used reason and no intuition to destroy the notion the earth was flat. There is always a frontier of are reality, those things we attend and those we ignore, beyond our ability or willingness to perceive.
the author seems to be mourning the loss of people's sense of reason and intuition in the modern age ("all drowned in doubt and shame, and I knew that I had lost my sight"), becoming dependent on technology to guide them through the wilderness.
Swing Low Sweet Chariot was a slave spiritual sung on plantations; slaves sang for the chariot to "swing low, and carry me home". Magellan was the first man to circumnavigate the globe (and is also the GPS software brand).
When he says "Swing Low, Oh Magellan" the author might be yearning for a way to find his way home, on his own power.
'There could never be no sympathy'
Swing low is a old spiritual sung by plantation slaves. Swing Low primarily refers to their eventual semblances of freedom, E.T.A. 28th August 1963. Possibly, the "Sweet Chariot" symbolizes civil rights legislation that may free the oppressed black peoples of America, and everywhere in a more general way.
Swing Low, Sweet Chaaariot, Comin' for to carry me home...