"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.
I try and be the man my pops see in me
Drivin' down this road they call easy street
Waiting for the light to turn green
And life is all good when they sights is on me
Tonight they call me money-driven Mac
Cause once I see them dollars, I ain't goin' give 'em back
At the edge of your seat, you need to just relax
This ain't the main course, I'm just giving you a snack
But soon you'll be ready for a meal
But I ain't ready, so y'all can just chill
Cause I know that I ain't ready for a deal yet
I ain't even get a chance to play the field yet
Just started, I need to break a real sweat
But I haven't spit somethin' they ain't feel yet
Well holdup, everybody got some haters
They hatin' on the Steelers and in love with the Raiders
Angry at the top from the bottom
Tryna' pull ya leg, hopin' that you'll fall and break
But I ain't makin' that mistake
I had to do this beat when I heard my man Drake
For goodness sake, this shit just sets me in a trance
Some people wanna listen, and the rest just dance
That's cool with me cause I like to get my groove on
I'm comin' with some new songs, tryin' not to do wrong
But lately it's been kinda hard
Cause money on my mind
And the only time I'm stuck behind the bar
Is when I'm thinkin' of the next line to rhyme
But this shit, I ain't even have to think about
Picked up the pen and the ink started spillin' out
I'm so high I believe that I can feel the clouds
So I hope y'all feel me now
The way these haters grillin', it kinda tickles
Cause they think that they got me in a pickle
But in reality I'm chess moves ahead of 'em
And I ain't sick of people comparing me to Eminem
Funny to me, the more money I see
The more, places to go, different countries to see
I'm just turning up the heat to 100 degrees
Spittin' like I got a razor blade under my teeth
Drivin' down this road they call easy street
Waiting for the light to turn green
And life is all good when they sights is on me
Tonight they call me money-driven Mac
Cause once I see them dollars, I ain't goin' give 'em back
At the edge of your seat, you need to just relax
This ain't the main course, I'm just giving you a snack
But soon you'll be ready for a meal
But I ain't ready, so y'all can just chill
Cause I know that I ain't ready for a deal yet
I ain't even get a chance to play the field yet
Just started, I need to break a real sweat
But I haven't spit somethin' they ain't feel yet
Well holdup, everybody got some haters
They hatin' on the Steelers and in love with the Raiders
Angry at the top from the bottom
Tryna' pull ya leg, hopin' that you'll fall and break
But I ain't makin' that mistake
I had to do this beat when I heard my man Drake
For goodness sake, this shit just sets me in a trance
Some people wanna listen, and the rest just dance
That's cool with me cause I like to get my groove on
I'm comin' with some new songs, tryin' not to do wrong
But lately it's been kinda hard
Cause money on my mind
And the only time I'm stuck behind the bar
Is when I'm thinkin' of the next line to rhyme
But this shit, I ain't even have to think about
Picked up the pen and the ink started spillin' out
I'm so high I believe that I can feel the clouds
So I hope y'all feel me now
The way these haters grillin', it kinda tickles
Cause they think that they got me in a pickle
But in reality I'm chess moves ahead of 'em
And I ain't sick of people comparing me to Eminem
Funny to me, the more money I see
The more, places to go, different countries to see
I'm just turning up the heat to 100 degrees
Spittin' like I got a razor blade under my teeth
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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Fast Car
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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