"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.
Now the rain comes down the windows and it
Drops onto the forehead of the waiting boy
He surveys his rental kingdom and he
Wonders if he's really lost his joy
Another fool would go down to the
Only place she went to lose herself
She's gone to the movies now and she don't need your help
Now the rain turns into snowfall as the
City sky reflects the silver street below
And it covers up the cars and the Wall-
Flowers cd ended half an hour ago
Another fool would dig the broken car out from the snow
And drive to find the show
She's gone to the movies now and she's not coming home
She's gone to the movies now and she's not coming home
Now he looks around his place and anyways
There's nowhere she could sit besides the bed
And he wonders if the car will start tomorrow
Or he'll have to take the bus instead
Any other fool would be out on the roadway
Trying to spot her rusted Pontiac
She's gone to the movies now and she's not coming home
She's gone to the movies now and she's not coming home
Drops onto the forehead of the waiting boy
He surveys his rental kingdom and he
Wonders if he's really lost his joy
Another fool would go down to the
Only place she went to lose herself
She's gone to the movies now and she don't need your help
Now the rain turns into snowfall as the
City sky reflects the silver street below
And it covers up the cars and the Wall-
Flowers cd ended half an hour ago
Another fool would dig the broken car out from the snow
And drive to find the show
She's gone to the movies now and she's not coming home
She's gone to the movies now and she's not coming home
Now he looks around his place and anyways
There's nowhere she could sit besides the bed
And he wonders if the car will start tomorrow
Or he'll have to take the bus instead
Any other fool would be out on the roadway
Trying to spot her rusted Pontiac
She's gone to the movies now and she's not coming home
She's gone to the movies now and she's not coming home
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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.
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Gone to the movies is codeword for the fact that his girl has left him. From the sounds of it, it would seem that it's not a rare thing, though; maybe it's something he tells him when she's going to see someone else, andhe comes to realize what the phrase really means.
Another fool, in all instances, would be out finding the girl. Maybe figuring out who she is with.
However, he is NOT a fool, and he can call it for what it is and knows better than to go and find where she is. Maybe she's left for the last time, and he knows that it's over.