"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.
It can't stop now
The signs keep changing on me
Like a shimmering bell
Long waves enveloping me
And my plastic mind,
So chewed and shrieking all the time
Feels it whirling by
Morning, afternoon then night
And I can't get down
If I don't feel right
Polishing off the sand
Lay by me
And we'll erode
As gently as we can
Into twilight
Into twilight
The signs keep changing on me
Like a shimmering bell
Long waves enveloping me
And my plastic mind,
So chewed and shrieking all the time
Feels it whirling by
Morning, afternoon then night
And I can't get down
If I don't feel right
Polishing off the sand
Lay by me
And we'll erode
As gently as we can
Into twilight
Into twilight
Lyrics submitted by dissolutions
An Orphan of Fortune Lyrics as written by Benjamin Nicholas Huner Goldwasser Andrew Wells Vanwyngarden
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
To me, this song shouts "bipolar disorder." I have a bipolar mom, and I myself am a very sensitive individual who's susceptible to similar disorders. Bipolar disorder is one's tendency to swing between melancholic (depressive) and manic (hyperactive) ends of the emotional spectrum. It depends of the severity of the disorder, but what most people don't realize is that the shift is not always acute; people can remain on either end of the spectrum for days, weeks, months, or years.
I shouldn't imply that Andrew has bipolar disorder because I don't know him, but his lyrics lead me to believe that at the very least, he's a very sensitive person. In "Alien Days," he sings,
"Today, find infinite ways it could be plenty worse, how it's a blessing but it's also a curse."
To me, he's stating that he's fortunate to have the kind of mind he does, but at the same time, there's an added layer of difficulty for him. Kay Jamison, a psychologist with bipolar disorder, wrote a pretty influential book on the disease called, "Touched With Fire." She makes a very strong case for a link between the manic state of mind and heightened creativity. I think it's possible that Andrew is an example of this. And in An Orphan of Fortune, I think every line can be used to make this case.
"It can't stop now The signs keep changing on me Like a shimmering bell Long waves enveloping me And my plastic mind, so chewed and shrieking all the time feels it whirling by Morning, afternoon then night, and I can't get down"
Andrew has been in a manic state of mind for a while now, but his emotions are shifting for the nth time and he just doesn't know what to believe. These long waves and states of emotion have been consuming him for as long as he can remember, and every day they spin his mind around and grind it down. He wants to be even keeled, settled and balanced, but he can't get down.
"If I don't feel right polishing off the sand, Lay by me and we'll erode as gently as we can, Into twilight"
Medication can help smooth him out, but it doesn't feel right to lull and dull his emotions. It's not right to cover up our sorrowful hope; we would be hiding ourselves from reality. We must accept the fact that our society and our world are decaying and degrading, and we must feel with it and for it.