"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.
Well, it's Ninth and Hennepin
All the doughnuts have names that sound like prostitutes
And the moon's teeth marks are on the sky
Like a tarp thrown all over this
And the broken umbrellas like dead birds
And the steam comes out of the grill like the whole goddamn town's ready to blow
And the bricks are all scarred with jailhouse tattoos
And everyone is behaving like dogs
And the horses are coming down Violin Road and Dutch is dead on his feet
And all the rooms they smell like diesel
And you take on the dreams of the ones who have slept here
And I'm lost in the window, and I hide in the stairway
And I hang in the curtain, and I sleep in your hat
And no one brings anything small into a bar around here
They all started out with bad directions
And the girl behind the counter has a tattooed tear
One for every year he's away, she said
Such a crumbling beauty
Ah, there's nothing wrong with her that a hundred dollars won't fix
She has that razor sadness that only gets worse
With the clang and the thunder of the Southern Pacific going by
And the clock ticks out like a dripping faucet
Till you're full of rag water and bitters and blue ruin
And you spill out over the side to anyone who will listen
And I've seen it all
I've seen it all through the yellow windows of the evening train
All the doughnuts have names that sound like prostitutes
And the moon's teeth marks are on the sky
Like a tarp thrown all over this
And the broken umbrellas like dead birds
And the steam comes out of the grill like the whole goddamn town's ready to blow
And the bricks are all scarred with jailhouse tattoos
And everyone is behaving like dogs
And the horses are coming down Violin Road and Dutch is dead on his feet
And all the rooms they smell like diesel
And you take on the dreams of the ones who have slept here
And I'm lost in the window, and I hide in the stairway
And I hang in the curtain, and I sleep in your hat
And no one brings anything small into a bar around here
They all started out with bad directions
And the girl behind the counter has a tattooed tear
One for every year he's away, she said
Such a crumbling beauty
Ah, there's nothing wrong with her that a hundred dollars won't fix
She has that razor sadness that only gets worse
With the clang and the thunder of the Southern Pacific going by
And the clock ticks out like a dripping faucet
Till you're full of rag water and bitters and blue ruin
And you spill out over the side to anyone who will listen
And I've seen it all
I've seen it all through the yellow windows of the evening train
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira, edited by josh723916
9th & Hennepin Lyrics as written by Thomas Alan Waits
Lyrics © JALMA MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
When We Were Young
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Wish I knew the names of those doughnuts...
Dear @morbid morag, I remember reading an interview with Tom Waits where he said that the names of the doughnuts were things like....'Cherry Licky' 'Vanilla Tops', 'Chocolate delight ' and 'creamy suprise'.
Tom waits, I believe, spent some time in Minneapolis back in the 70's. I knew a guy who ran lights for him in a small bar told how TW said... "for this next song I want a piss yellow spotlight...". I also know someone from Mpls. who remembers the doughnut shop where they actually had names like prostitutes. Of course that's all gone now as they've "cleaned up" that whole part of Hennepin Ave. The line "No one brings anything small into a bar around here" is a direct quote from the Play/Movie "Harvey". Jimmy Stewart plays the character (in the movie) and he's describing his life with his friend Harvey (a large invisible rabbit) & how they spend their time in bars listening to peoples hopes & dreams & lives.
"til you're full of rag water and bitters and blue ruin..." My favourite line but the whole piece shimmers with endlessly evocative images and states of mind. It's difficult to do the song justice by trying to craft additonal words about it. Either you're hooked by it or you're not. One thing I've always been curious about are Tom Waits' possible Minneapolis connections--he writes about the city a fair bit. Anyone with info on this?
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I don't know of a Tom Waits connection to Minneapolis, but Tom writes a lot of his songs about towns across the US, although most seem to be northern, Midwestern towns. My thought is that the towns are just part of the vibe of being somewhere.
I actually wrote a short story for school based on the tattoo tear line.
This song is descriptive enough to be an entire movie. I imagine a black and white movie with the narroter introducing a bar while a couple step off of a train, before they head there because of "bad directions." Then they witness a murder, get lost, can't escape, etc.
I think "bad directions" applies here in a more universal sense. <br /> <br /> "And no one brings anything small into a bar around here<br /> They all started out with bad directions"<br /> <br /> He's saying every problem that the patrons in this bar is huge to that particular person. No such thing as a small problem: "no one brings anything small...here."<br /> <br /> When he says they all started out with bad directions, he means they have been headed for 9th & Hennipen since childhood. It was their destiny to end up here.<br /> <br /> My two cents.<br />
"the girl behind the counter has a tattooed tear 'one for every year he's away,' she said,"
beautiful.
i agree with charrbin...descriptive reaches a whole new level in this. it has that slinking detective vibe going on. you can almost imagine him taking a drag from a cigarette as he goes from each part, smoke forming a halo around whatever lightbulb is hanging from the ceiling, swaying as he exhales.
I'm a big ol' poser, so I don't know Tom Waits the way I should. Is this song about 9th and Hennepin in Minneapolis?
I was told odds are it is goodmorning. he sings of minneapolis in "christmas card from a hooker..." also. You should listen to that one as well if you haven't already. It's just as descriptive and it brings a tear to my eye every listen.
This guy tells stories soooo beautifully, but listen to it, its about dark and death. still i can easily listen to it before goin to sleep it is relaxing and dark! HOW DOES HE DO IT"!
"Such a crumbling beauty" ahh what a way with words. A beautiful lyricscape he conjures up.