"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.
To the center of the earth
Or anywhere God decides
Full of fever pulling forth
We hear our call as all
To the center of the earth
As if written in
DNA is reaching out
To your frequency
I want to live
Don't want to die
I want to live
I want to try
All in prayer
Prayer in all
All are scared
Scared of all
Black rooms are calling
To men in leather coats
White labs are cooking
Up the silver ghost
The glass migrates under
Her translucent skin
And all are spiders
Wonder what we've got us in
All is you
You are all
All with you
You in all
I want to live
I don't want to die
I want to live
I want to try
"So it's all very obtuse, because it's all, like, I don't know. So, like, I started thinking that everything I operate on is based on what I believe God was telling me to do. God could be my intuition or whatever, but I always assume, I always assume that the voice I hear is the voice of God. Then I started thinking, what if I'm insane? So I'm operating on the premise that I'm hearing the voice of God or what I perceive to be God speaking to me or through me, but maybe I'm completely in...so all my...demagoguery in my life about me thinking that my life has importance, my, my...thinking that my life has importance. My--my--my thought of it and the fact that I believe I'm following my intuition which in and of itself may be completely false. So then I started freaking out, thinking--of itself may be completely false. And again this creature that believes he's acting upon heavenly intuition but meanwhile he's totally rampant. And I started thinking maybe this is the cause of all the negativity against--and I started thinking maybe this is the cause of all the negativity against--and I started thinking maybe this is the cause of all the negativity against..."
So meets the final coda of a vinyl storm
One more cherry cola to lift up her dead arms
A dream of soft focus, sunsets filters through the din
We are losing contact as she dials it in
She can hear glass calling, or is it someone that looks like him?
She eyes TV reflection, and nods a knowing look
She says it doesn't matter, she never liked her looks
I have seen a thousand fractures, I have seen everything
'Cause knowing is its own answer, love something in a book
There's not much left to ponder, not much left to cook
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
Or anywhere God decides
Full of fever pulling forth
We hear our call as all
To the center of the earth
As if written in
DNA is reaching out
To your frequency
I want to live
Don't want to die
I want to live
I want to try
All in prayer
Prayer in all
All are scared
Scared of all
Black rooms are calling
To men in leather coats
White labs are cooking
Up the silver ghost
The glass migrates under
Her translucent skin
And all are spiders
Wonder what we've got us in
All is you
You are all
All with you
You in all
I want to live
I don't want to die
I want to live
I want to try
"So it's all very obtuse, because it's all, like, I don't know. So, like, I started thinking that everything I operate on is based on what I believe God was telling me to do. God could be my intuition or whatever, but I always assume, I always assume that the voice I hear is the voice of God. Then I started thinking, what if I'm insane? So I'm operating on the premise that I'm hearing the voice of God or what I perceive to be God speaking to me or through me, but maybe I'm completely in...so all my...demagoguery in my life about me thinking that my life has importance, my, my...thinking that my life has importance. My--my--my thought of it and the fact that I believe I'm following my intuition which in and of itself may be completely false. So then I started freaking out, thinking--of itself may be completely false. And again this creature that believes he's acting upon heavenly intuition but meanwhile he's totally rampant. And I started thinking maybe this is the cause of all the negativity against--and I started thinking maybe this is the cause of all the negativity against--and I started thinking maybe this is the cause of all the negativity against..."
So meets the final coda of a vinyl storm
One more cherry cola to lift up her dead arms
A dream of soft focus, sunsets filters through the din
We are losing contact as she dials it in
She can hear glass calling, or is it someone that looks like him?
She eyes TV reflection, and nods a knowing look
She says it doesn't matter, she never liked her looks
I have seen a thousand fractures, I have seen everything
'Cause knowing is its own answer, love something in a book
There's not much left to ponder, not much left to cook
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
As she counted the spiders, as they crawled up inside her
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Gentle Hour
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Great version of a great song,
Punchline
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I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but as I go through this website, I can't help but realize that no one actually listens to songs anymore, or even attempts to understand their meaning. And when and/or if they do, it's always some selfish interpretation derived from their own life. Not that that's bad thing but you all still miss the big picture. YES, this is a concept album, albeit not too hard to figure out. Basically, the entire album is about God and Us (or Christ).