"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.
Joka ilta saman tuvan kuistilla
Vanhus istuu, laulaa vanhaa laulua
Sanat saarnin oksilta tuuleen lentävät
Puun tuon tarinan muistaa enää hän
Kolmen maailman rajalla
Juuret maassa kaiken lähteellä
Kurkottaa jätti iäinen ain' taivaaseen
Lehvänsä suojelevat
Tietoa varjelevat
Viisautta veden maanalaisen
Saapui pihaan kerran vieras ihminen
Toi mukanaan mies laulun aavikon
Pian saapui kylään myös vieras uskonto
Luojansa moni siihen paikkaan unohti
Kolmen maailman rajalla
Juuret maassa kaiken lähteellä
Kurkottaa jätti iäinen ain' taivaaseen
Aika alkaa ennen aikaa
Tuhat tarinaa vailla kertojaa
Kohtalot oikukkaat ihmisten
Kerran saneltiin tässä
Laki jumalten korkeuksista
Jokaiseen maailmaan ehti
Joet uomiinsa jäätyneet
Toisaalla ruokkivat maata
Siitä joillekin tuli Helvetti
Käärmeitä Täynnänsä
Maan äidin povella kasvoi
Elon järkähtämätön tuva
Voimansa ammensi viisaudesta
Ajasta aikaan unohtuneesta
Lehvänsä suojelivat
Tietoa varjelivat
Saa ilta hilhaisella juistilla
Ei vanhus jaksa tulla enää laulamaan
Vehreä saarnin oksilta pois on karissut
Muiston viimeisenkin polttaa aurinko
Kolmen maailman rajalla
Lehdet maassa kaiken lähteellä
Liekehtii hätti iäinen
Translation:
Mimisbrunn
Every evening on the same porch
An elder sits, sings an old song
Words fly to the wind from the branches of the ash
Only he remembers the story of that tree
On the frontier of three worlds
Roots in the ground at the spring of all
The giant forever reaching out for heavens
Its sprigs they protect
Enshrining knowledge
The wisdom of an underwater world
A stranger once arrived at the cabin
Along he brought the desert's song
Soon a strange religion also arrived in the village
And many forgot their creator
On the frontier of three worlds
Roots in the ground at the spring of all
The giant forever reaching out for heavens
Time begins before time
A thousand stories with no one to tell them
The fickle fates of men
Here once were dictated
The law of the gods from heights
Reached every world
Rivers frozen in their beds
Elsewhere fed the land
For some it become Hell
Swarming with serpents
On the bosom of mother earth there grew
The ommovable security of life
Drawing its strength from wisdom
Forgotten from time to time
Its sprigs they protected
Enshrined the knowledge
Evening falls at the silent porch
The elder too weary to sing
The green has fallen off the branches of the ash
The last memories burnt away by the sun
On the frontier of three worlds
Roots in the ground at the spring of all
The eternal giant in flames
Vanhus istuu, laulaa vanhaa laulua
Sanat saarnin oksilta tuuleen lentävät
Puun tuon tarinan muistaa enää hän
Kolmen maailman rajalla
Juuret maassa kaiken lähteellä
Kurkottaa jätti iäinen ain' taivaaseen
Lehvänsä suojelevat
Tietoa varjelevat
Viisautta veden maanalaisen
Saapui pihaan kerran vieras ihminen
Toi mukanaan mies laulun aavikon
Pian saapui kylään myös vieras uskonto
Luojansa moni siihen paikkaan unohti
Kolmen maailman rajalla
Juuret maassa kaiken lähteellä
Kurkottaa jätti iäinen ain' taivaaseen
Aika alkaa ennen aikaa
Tuhat tarinaa vailla kertojaa
Kohtalot oikukkaat ihmisten
Kerran saneltiin tässä
Laki jumalten korkeuksista
Jokaiseen maailmaan ehti
Joet uomiinsa jäätyneet
Toisaalla ruokkivat maata
Siitä joillekin tuli Helvetti
Käärmeitä Täynnänsä
Maan äidin povella kasvoi
Elon järkähtämätön tuva
Voimansa ammensi viisaudesta
Ajasta aikaan unohtuneesta
Lehvänsä suojelivat
Tietoa varjelivat
Saa ilta hilhaisella juistilla
Ei vanhus jaksa tulla enää laulamaan
Vehreä saarnin oksilta pois on karissut
Muiston viimeisenkin polttaa aurinko
Kolmen maailman rajalla
Lehdet maassa kaiken lähteellä
Liekehtii hätti iäinen
Translation:
Mimisbrunn
Every evening on the same porch
An elder sits, sings an old song
Words fly to the wind from the branches of the ash
Only he remembers the story of that tree
On the frontier of three worlds
Roots in the ground at the spring of all
The giant forever reaching out for heavens
Its sprigs they protect
Enshrining knowledge
The wisdom of an underwater world
A stranger once arrived at the cabin
Along he brought the desert's song
Soon a strange religion also arrived in the village
And many forgot their creator
On the frontier of three worlds
Roots in the ground at the spring of all
The giant forever reaching out for heavens
Time begins before time
A thousand stories with no one to tell them
The fickle fates of men
Here once were dictated
The law of the gods from heights
Reached every world
Rivers frozen in their beds
Elsewhere fed the land
For some it become Hell
Swarming with serpents
On the bosom of mother earth there grew
The ommovable security of life
Drawing its strength from wisdom
Forgotten from time to time
Its sprigs they protected
Enshrined the knowledge
Evening falls at the silent porch
The elder too weary to sing
The green has fallen off the branches of the ash
The last memories burnt away by the sun
On the frontier of three worlds
Roots in the ground at the spring of all
The eternal giant in flames
Lyrics submitted by sokorny
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