"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.
James, come on home
You've been gone too long baby
We can't let our hero die alone
We miss you day and night
You left town to live by the rifle
You left us to fight
But it just ain't right to take away the light
Remember Genie, from the casino
She's still a-waiting in her big brass bed
The boys from your gang are knocking whisky back
Till they get out of hand
And wish they were dead
They're only lonely for the life they led
With their old friend
Oh
James, are you selling your soul to a cold gun?
Where lies your heart?
It's not there in the buckskin baby
It's not there in the gin that makes you laugh long and loud
You're a coward James
You're running away from humanity
You're running out on reality
It won't be funny when they
Rat-a-tat you down
Remember Genie, from the casino
She's still a-waiting in her big brass bed
The boys from your gang are knocking whisky back
Till they get out of hand
And wish they were dead
They're only lonely for the life they led
With their old friend
Oh
James, are you selling your soul to a cold gun?
You've been gone too long baby
We can't let our hero die alone
We miss you day and night
You left town to live by the rifle
You left us to fight
But it just ain't right to take away the light
Remember Genie, from the casino
She's still a-waiting in her big brass bed
The boys from your gang are knocking whisky back
Till they get out of hand
And wish they were dead
They're only lonely for the life they led
With their old friend
Oh
James, are you selling your soul to a cold gun?
Where lies your heart?
It's not there in the buckskin baby
It's not there in the gin that makes you laugh long and loud
You're a coward James
You're running away from humanity
You're running out on reality
It won't be funny when they
Rat-a-tat you down
Remember Genie, from the casino
She's still a-waiting in her big brass bed
The boys from your gang are knocking whisky back
Till they get out of hand
And wish they were dead
They're only lonely for the life they led
With their old friend
Oh
James, are you selling your soul to a cold gun?
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery, edited by Mellow_Harsher
James and the Cold Gun Lyrics as written by Kate Bush
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
I could be wrong but:
I think this is about a man (James) who leaves his town, where apparently an idolized man, to go to war with his "cold gun." He's supposed to be some sort of hero, but really all the townspeople want him back, because once he's gone, things start to turn awry and unruly without his authority and general rule. So even though he's supposed to be helping them out by fighting in a war for the, he's really only hurting them, as he becomes absent from their lives, which only go downhill.
It seems that James enjoys being in the war, though, maybe because of the pure escape it provides him from real life (even though to most people fighting in a war would seem worse than facing day-to-day chores). The narrator accuses him of being a coward, running away from humanity and reality, and that it won't be funny anymore when the enemy kills him.
So basically, he sells his soul and old life, in which he served as an authoritative figure and man of respect, in order to join a pointless war so he can escape all the routine of life, even though he'll only end up dead. War hurts life at home more than help it, because all of our manly, ruling figures are absent.
Like I said, I could be completely wrong, but I think I'm somewhere along the right track...
From The Best Of Kate Bush:
"It's hot and sandy, the land is old and dry. Here rides a man with a sheet of ice by his side."
Bond? James Bond? ...at least, that's what I always thought.
I always got the image of a man who was forced into a life of crime that finally takes him over and the song is the people he's left behind begging him to see where his life is leading him before he's killed in some sort of shootout, whether it be his enemies or by the police! Cowboy or mobster, is the bit that always confused me, though...
T.
I always thought this was about Jessie James, but 'James' scans better than 'Jessie'. All of the imagery fits a wild west theme, to me.
I read this as talking about well-liked guy who leaves to join the Army.
Fairly simple and straightforward lyric. (I might be hopelessly wrong!)
In an interview with Phil Sutcliffe published in the August 30, 1980 issue of Sounds, composer and performer Kate Bush spoke of her fascination with guns: "Not about what they do, but detach them from their purpose and they're... fantastic, beautiful. And yet they're designed to kill which is against everything I believe in."
At a stretch this song could be about James Bond, but it was actually inspired by a contemporary thriller, The Day Of The Jackal. Based on the book of the same name by English author Frederick Forsyth, this 1973 release featured Edward Fox in the title role of the nameless would-be assassin of Charles de Gaulle, who was President of France from 1959-69. The film is set in 1963, the same year American President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Kate received several fan letters from people trying to guess the identity of James, but there's no big mystery behind the man with the cold gun. "The answer is: nobody. When I wrote the song, James was the right name for it," she revealed in a fan club newsletter.
While Kate does ask James if he's selling his soul to a cold gun, the specific song title doesn't show up in the lyrics.
It is about Jesse James.