Fast Car Lyrics
I wanna ticket to anywhere,
Maybe we can make a deal,
Maybe together we can get somewhere,
Any place is better,
Startin' from zero, got nothin' to lose,
Maybe we'll make somethin',
Me myself I've got nothin' to prove.
I got a plan to get us outta here,
Been working at a convenience store,
Managed to save just a little bit of money
We won't have to drive too far,
Just 'cross the border and into the city,
You and I can both get jobs,
And finally see what it means to be livin'.
He live with the bottle, that's the way it is
He say his body's too old for workin',
I say his body's too young to look like his,
My mama went off and left him,
She wanted more from life than he could give,
I said, somebody's got to take care of him,
So I quit school, and that's what I did.
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision,
We leave tonight or live an' die this way.
'cause I remember when we were drivin',
Drivin' in your car,
Speeds so fast I felt like I was drunk,
City lights lay out before us,
And your arm felt nice wrapped round my shoulder,
And I, I had a feelin' that I belonged,
And I, I had a feelin' I could be someone,
Be someone,
Be someone.
We go cruisin', entertain ourselves,
You still ain't got a job,
Now I work in the market as a checkout girl,
I know things'll get better,
You'll find work and I'll get promoted,
And we'll move out of the shelter,
Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs.
I got a job that pays all our bills,
You stay out drinkin' late at the bar,
See more of your friends than you do of your kids,
I'd always hoped for better,
Thought maybe together, you and me'd find it,
I got no plans, I ain't goin' nowhere,
So take your fast car and keep on drivin'.
Is it fast enough, so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision,
You leave tonight or live and die this way.
Tracy is a MASTER...few words, repeated initial "refrains"....powerful evocative images, a classic novel and timeless "moral" packed into this blues/traditional ballad of seven verses alternating with "chorus". Glitzy material possessions never could substitute for true character and those who rely on them will only drag down those who know better.
Agreed! :)
Agreed! :)
"Tracy is a MASTER" , same words I used to describe Tracy's artistry to my mother, yesterday.
"Tracy is a MASTER" , same words I used to describe Tracy's artistry to my mother, yesterday.
I agree with everyone's opinion about this song being about chasing a dream. At the end she's right back where she started despite her perseverance and hope that she could change her life for the better. The song lyrics go in a circle, and at the end she is older and in a different place, but she sees the same cycle beginning to repeat itself.
I also think it's important to notice how throughout the song, she is the one who keeps getting jobs, and keeps trying to get promoted. She says things about the person she's with hopefully eventually getting a job, but they never do, it's always her. It makes it seem like she is the only one trying in the relationship, and maybe all this person has to offer is a fast car. Maybe in the end, she finally realizes that a fast car is all this person is good for, and that she needs a lot more than that to change her life.
I do think this song is more about self growth / hope / realization than a relationship, but it's still an interesting perspective to look at. Beautiful, amazing, wonderful song!!!
@meowowsyd It's not a circle though, in the end she is not where she started; she is in a much better place a better position in life. In the beginning, she was trapped and had to rely on the other person, the guy with a fast car, to get out of her situation. As you stated, she had the dreams, she got the jobs and the promotions, she made a better life for herself and her family. In the end though she found her own feet, she's telling the bum to either straighten up or get...
@meowowsyd It's not a circle though, in the end she is not where she started; she is in a much better place a better position in life. In the beginning, she was trapped and had to rely on the other person, the guy with a fast car, to get out of her situation. As you stated, she had the dreams, she got the jobs and the promotions, she made a better life for herself and her family. In the end though she found her own feet, she's telling the bum to either straighten up or get out. She has a job that pays all the bills and she doesn't have to put up with his bs any more.
@meowowsyd I just re-read the song because of your beautiful insights and perspectives.
@meowowsyd I just re-read the song because of your beautiful insights and perspectives.
I noted that it was she who states "Maybe we'll make something? Me (myself,) I got nothing to prove."
I noted that it was she who states "Maybe we'll make something? Me (myself,) I got nothing to prove."
She then uses "you" to refer to the owner of the car. It is never otherwise in this song.
She then uses "you" to refer to the owner of the car. It is never otherwise in this song.
She lulls him into the city, a life he may not have been able to afford.. Then she remembers her father. His wife left him, and left our main character with that father. She would never become the woman who left her man.
She lulls him into the city, a life he may not have been able to afford.. Then she remembers her father. His wife left him, and left our main character with that father. She would never become the woman who left her man.
She then...
She then speaks to the owner of the car, her husband. She says "do we leave tonight or live and die this way?" The images created in the first verse were a dream about how they would live, as imagined by her.
As illustrated by the new scenario, that of cruising along the boulevard. This is exposed as a dream too, by the line "we'll move out of the shelter". Together they never left the ghetto.
She still has her ambitions. Clearly a dream. The next two verses are how it really happened for our couple: She's with a drunk, however she feels just like she did when she was a little girl.
She hates her husband's relations with his children because of it. She hates how kids are affected. Kids don't understand alcohol.
She had always hoped for better, despite her saying she had nothing to prove (at the start of the song.)
She sends him on his way, but she remembers her ambitions - the tension in this song - !!!
It ends on the resolve: She is talking to herself, and asking her once again: You gotta leave or take hold, but either way, you gotta decide.
Truly an inspired song by an artist who knows how to feel!
@Zygon I really don't want you to be right here, not saying you are are aren't. In the second to last verse, here's how I see it:
@Zygon I really don't want you to be right here, not saying you are are aren't. In the second to last verse, here's how I see it:
"You got a fast car I got a job that pays all our bills"
"You got a fast car I got a job that pays all our bills"
You have a fast car, that's all you have, that's all you've ever had. I have a decent job, I've grown from the put upon kid at the start of the song.
You have a fast car, that's all you have, that's all you've ever had. I have a decent job, I've grown from the put upon kid at the start of the song.
"You stay out drinking late at the bar See more of your friends than you do of your kids I'd always hoped for better Thought maybe together you...
"You stay out drinking late at the bar See more of your friends than you do of your kids I'd always hoped for better Thought maybe together you and me would find it"
I always wanted a better life, but I wanted you in it. I thought of us as a team but you only saw yourself."
"I got no plans I ain't going nowhere So take your fast car and keep on driving"
I'm where I want to be in life. You, you are the same immature kid that you were when we first met. I'm not leaving, I'm not moving around, you can take that car and get out of my life.
I think the fact that this page has 115 comments speaks to the range and richness of this song. It touches upon so much like dreamy escapism, the blindness of love, the heartbreaking disappointment of dreams and so much more that others have mentioned. You can even entertain the interpretation made by someone that the whole song is a daydream that is crushed by reality at the end of the song. Top it off with the fact that the music is beautiful and now it's one of the greatest songs ever.
"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 find myself reacting much stronger to the imagery of the latter section of the verse you quoted. "And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder I had a feeling that I belonged I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone" To me, that latter part sums up all the bittersweet hope and energy present in the song, and is complemented by the first 3 lines (your quotes) that serve to build-up that last three lines. As for the chance to make it, only to lose it all...well, they say the journey is always more important than the destination......
I find myself reacting much stronger to the imagery of the latter section of the verse you quoted. "And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder I had a feeling that I belonged I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone" To me, that latter part sums up all the bittersweet hope and energy present in the song, and is complemented by the first 3 lines (your quotes) that serve to build-up that last three lines. As for the chance to make it, only to lose it all...well, they say the journey is always more important than the destination...
@ballzofsno That's funny because I thought of The River when I heard this. Same artist totally different song... situations you can't control and being unhappy with the result.
@ballzofsno That's funny because I thought of The River when I heard this. Same artist totally different song... situations you can't control and being unhappy with the result.
This song is so powerful and every time I hear it I have to stop and listen to it. If you notice, it first says "Is it fast enough so WE can fly away?" Then at the end it says "Is it fast so YOU can fly away?" Thus saying, in the end, she wants him to leave her.
@Saraghina Not quite. She wants him to grow up. She wants him to be a man but if he wont then he needs to get lost.
@Saraghina Not quite. She wants him to grow up. She wants him to be a man but if he wont then he needs to get lost.
This song is about the vicious cycle of life. The vicious cycle of poverty, of alcoholism, of single parenthood. The fast car symbolizes her dreams of making it out of this cycle.
Sadly it never happens. She ends up back in the same position she started, with nothing; the same job, poor, taking care of an alcoholic partner. She realizes that her dreams of getting out of this lifestyle are never going to happen and now she wants him to leave and take his fast car (all the broken promises and dreams) with him.
According to Chapman herself, that is exactly what the song is about.
According to Chapman herself, that is exactly what the song is about.
@dontwaitforme Choosing the same kind of man that her father was.
@dontwaitforme Choosing the same kind of man that her father was.
A mother living below the poverty line because of the environment that she was forced to live in, wants to go anywhere else, which she thinks would be better than where she's at. Problem is, people who live below the poverty line are a part of the vicious circle. Low paying, menial jobs foster apathy, alcoholism, crime in most who are a part of her world that she comes to find out about. She thinks that love is the answer to her problems, seeing that there is that chance at a different life.
Eventually, her partner is a part of the "vicious circle", has no real ambition or cannot get the breaks and turns to other diversions that commonly cause strife within a domestic situation.
The song leaves with a hint of despair. The "Fast Car" that was supposed to come to bring her to a better place is now a symbol of escape for the "love" she thought she had to leave her in her place to get on with her life... Unfortunately, this last message seems to portend to the poor's plight in general.
A dark, disturbing, yet beautiful and bluesy song. Hearkens back to the old days of the "blues man"(apologies to Tracy) sitting and playing the guitar and rapping about the troubles in life.
The psychology of codependence.
This is how i feel about where i live and the people around me,I just wanna get out of here. Go anywhere.
wow me to
wow me to
Me too. I live in Virginia. Think about it.
Me too. I live in Virginia. Think about it.
This song is so beautiful and powerful. i totally feel how tracy does. i know what she means when "You gotta make a decision, Leave tonight or live and die this way." i live in a small town and i am going to get out of here as soon as I can. i think my life would be a waste and pointless if i didnt make somehting of my life and get the hell out of here. this song gives me the feeling of being spontanious and just leaving just like im going to do someday. im going to jump in my car and never look back.i also know what she means when she talks about her father and how he needs her help. she wants to leave but shes got reality holding her back.this song gives me hope
"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.
"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...
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.