"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 am the Bullgod
I am free
And I feed on all that is forsaken
I'm gonna get you
I see through you
I'm gonna get you
I'm like a train, I roll hard lettin' off much steam
In the Carhartt flannel and the dusty jeans, baby
I never was cool with James Dean, but I be hangin' tough
With my man Jim Beam
I swing low like a chimp
Back in eighty-six, then I was seein' a shrink
But now I'm humble and I can only think
About New Orleans and those jumbo shrimp
So ask no questions and I tell no lies
I got big old pupils and bloodshot eyes
I'm on the brink, if you know what I mean
And the twelve-step program couldn't keep me clean
'Cause I'm the Bullgod, you understand?
The illegitimate son of man
The T-O-P to the D-O-G, or the P-O-T to the G-O-D
And I'm trippin'
Unh, huh-huh, said I'm trippin'
I am the Bullgod
I am free
And I feed on all that is forsaken
I'm gonna get you
I see through you
I'm gonna get you
A lot of people poke fun and that's alright
But when I start pokin' back they get all uptight, uh
You can't cap with the master, son
So sit your ass down 'fore I blast you one
'Cause I'm so greasy you can call me mud
And I feel a little Hank running through my blood
I wanna flood the world with my twisted thoughts
You can bid all day, but I can't be bought
Uh, break it up, let's tie one on
I gotta get set to go and cut the lawn
So I grab my Walkman but before I cut
I go behind the garage and fire it up
'Cause I'm the Bullgod, you understand?
The illegitimate son of man
The T-O-P to the D-O-G, or the P-O-T to the G-O-D
And I'm trippin'
Huh, huh, said I'm trippin' (didn't you know?)
I am the Bullgod
I am free
And I feed on all that is forsaken
(I'm forsaken)
Pshh, you ain't nothin'
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
(Come on get 'em up)
(Come on get 'em up)
(Come on get 'em up)
I am the Bullgod
I am free
And I feed on all that is forsaken, I am the Bullgod
I am free
And I feed on all that is forsaken
I get a feeling of peace from a low, slow high
As I sit in my chair and watch life go by
These thoughts I have, I can't mold the sense
Through the forest of my mind, they're all past tense
Born and raised in the outer lands
And at times you could say I'm out of hand
I'm in a band of gypsies, we're on the run
Every time that paper hits my tongue
And sometimes it seems so odd
When my veins are poppin' and I'm holdin' a nine
I am the Bullgod, you understand?
And here in my hand is my master plan, uh
I'm gonna get you
I see through you
I'm gonna get you
I see through you
I am free
And I feed on all that is forsaken
I'm gonna get you
I see through you
I'm gonna get you
I'm like a train, I roll hard lettin' off much steam
In the Carhartt flannel and the dusty jeans, baby
I never was cool with James Dean, but I be hangin' tough
With my man Jim Beam
I swing low like a chimp
Back in eighty-six, then I was seein' a shrink
But now I'm humble and I can only think
About New Orleans and those jumbo shrimp
So ask no questions and I tell no lies
I got big old pupils and bloodshot eyes
I'm on the brink, if you know what I mean
And the twelve-step program couldn't keep me clean
'Cause I'm the Bullgod, you understand?
The illegitimate son of man
The T-O-P to the D-O-G, or the P-O-T to the G-O-D
And I'm trippin'
Unh, huh-huh, said I'm trippin'
I am the Bullgod
I am free
And I feed on all that is forsaken
I'm gonna get you
I see through you
I'm gonna get you
A lot of people poke fun and that's alright
But when I start pokin' back they get all uptight, uh
You can't cap with the master, son
So sit your ass down 'fore I blast you one
'Cause I'm so greasy you can call me mud
And I feel a little Hank running through my blood
I wanna flood the world with my twisted thoughts
You can bid all day, but I can't be bought
Uh, break it up, let's tie one on
I gotta get set to go and cut the lawn
So I grab my Walkman but before I cut
I go behind the garage and fire it up
'Cause I'm the Bullgod, you understand?
The illegitimate son of man
The T-O-P to the D-O-G, or the P-O-T to the G-O-D
And I'm trippin'
Huh, huh, said I'm trippin' (didn't you know?)
I am the Bullgod
I am free
And I feed on all that is forsaken
(I'm forsaken)
Pshh, you ain't nothin'
(Yeah, yeah, yeah)
(Come on get 'em up)
(Come on get 'em up)
(Come on get 'em up)
I am the Bullgod
I am free
And I feed on all that is forsaken, I am the Bullgod
I am free
And I feed on all that is forsaken
I get a feeling of peace from a low, slow high
As I sit in my chair and watch life go by
These thoughts I have, I can't mold the sense
Through the forest of my mind, they're all past tense
Born and raised in the outer lands
And at times you could say I'm out of hand
I'm in a band of gypsies, we're on the run
Every time that paper hits my tongue
And sometimes it seems so odd
When my veins are poppin' and I'm holdin' a nine
I am the Bullgod, you understand?
And here in my hand is my master plan, uh
I'm gonna get you
I see through you
I'm gonna get you
I see through you
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Fast Car
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"The illegitimate son of man"
Fucking classic.
love how the chorus sounds in this song. Very powerful. And this is gonna sound weird, but this song (as well as the whole Devil Without A Cause album) reminds me of the Florida panhandle. lol I can recall listening to the album in my car while driving from Louisiana to Pensacola and again to Ft. Walton Beach.
acid lol
TRADITIONALLY, people tend to put line breaks in lyrics where there's a line break in the song, not where they hit 80 characters. Gimme 5 minutes, I'll submit the lyrics formatted a little better.