"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.
Accept this moment, your spiritual cleansing.
As your hair falls to the floor consider this
Your conversion, your final warning.
Recite these words as we clean you of your filth.
Are you defying God?
What are you trying to prove?
Spare your family the shame
And yourself the sting of a rattan cane.
This is the last night you'll sleep corrupt and naïve.
You'll wake before the sun for your first steps down the path.
Your childish dreams are gone,
This time must come for everyone.
You think you're one of a kind?
I see your type here all the time.
I am patient, I am fair, but I am tired of you.
Your treatment is just, our conscience remains clear.
Let us be judged in the ever after.
I look at you and I see nothing but a fool.
To help you understand,
Your roommate will tell you about his journey to free his soul.
While you're listening take a closer look at his arms and his face,
The gaping holes if he happens to crack a smile.
As your hair falls to the floor consider this
Your conversion, your final warning.
Recite these words as we clean you of your filth.
Are you defying God?
What are you trying to prove?
Spare your family the shame
And yourself the sting of a rattan cane.
This is the last night you'll sleep corrupt and naïve.
You'll wake before the sun for your first steps down the path.
Your childish dreams are gone,
This time must come for everyone.
You think you're one of a kind?
I see your type here all the time.
I am patient, I am fair, but I am tired of you.
Your treatment is just, our conscience remains clear.
Let us be judged in the ever after.
I look at you and I see nothing but a fool.
To help you understand,
Your roommate will tell you about his journey to free his soul.
While you're listening take a closer look at his arms and his face,
The gaping holes if he happens to crack a smile.
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Fast Car
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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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Todd Kowalski: That song is directly inspired by some punk kids in Aceh, Indonesia. They were doing a benefit show that was interrupted by the local police and authorities. They had all of their punk stuff stripped off 'em, their heads shaved, they were thrown in a lake and put in a jail for actual spiritual cleansing for a month or two. I just found that totally insane. A friend of mine who’s from Indonesia told me that one of the kids had their teeth punched out. It affected me and it’s happening all over. There were "emo" kids in Iraq who were considered effeminate and a bunch of them were murdered. It’s kind of a warning about religious authorities and how hard things can come down on you in this world.
It’s not a figment of our imagination. You can see it in the States, sliding towards people saying things like, "only certain kinds of rape can lead to pregnancy." Just crazy thoughts and we’re not immune to it and the world’s not very big. Kids who wanna listen to punk music are getting thrown into jail.
music.cbc.ca/