"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.
Oh yeah!
In France, a skinny man died of a big disease with a little name
By chance his girlfriend came across a needle and soon she did the same
At home there are seventeen-year-old boys and their idea of fun
Is being in a gang called 'The Disciples'
High on crack and totin' a machine gun
Time
Times
Hurricane Annie ripped the ceiling of a church and killed everyone inside
You turn on the telly and every other story is tellin' you somebody died
A sister killed her baby 'cause she couldn't afford to feed it
And yet we're sending people to the moon
In September, my cousin tried reefer for the very first time
Now he's doing horse, it's June, unh
Times
Times
It's silly, no?
When a rocket ship explodes and everybody still wants to fly
But some say a man ain't happy unless a man truly dies
Oh why?
Time
Time
Baby make a speech, Star Wars fly
Neighbors just shine it on
But if a night falls and a bomb falls
Will anybody see the dawn?
Time, mm
Times
Is it silly, no?
When a rocket blows and, and everybody still wants to fly
Some say man ain't happy truly until a man truly dies
Oh why, oh why?
Sign o' the times, unh
Time
Time
Sign o' the times mess with your mind
Hurry before it's too late
Let's fall in love, get married, have a baby
We'll call him Nate
If it's a boy
Time
Times
In France, a skinny man died of a big disease with a little name
By chance his girlfriend came across a needle and soon she did the same
At home there are seventeen-year-old boys and their idea of fun
Is being in a gang called 'The Disciples'
High on crack and totin' a machine gun
Time
Times
Hurricane Annie ripped the ceiling of a church and killed everyone inside
You turn on the telly and every other story is tellin' you somebody died
A sister killed her baby 'cause she couldn't afford to feed it
And yet we're sending people to the moon
In September, my cousin tried reefer for the very first time
Now he's doing horse, it's June, unh
Times
Times
It's silly, no?
When a rocket ship explodes and everybody still wants to fly
But some say a man ain't happy unless a man truly dies
Oh why?
Time
Time
Baby make a speech, Star Wars fly
Neighbors just shine it on
But if a night falls and a bomb falls
Will anybody see the dawn?
Time, mm
Times
Is it silly, no?
When a rocket blows and, and everybody still wants to fly
Some say man ain't happy truly until a man truly dies
Oh why, oh why?
Sign o' the times, unh
Time
Time
Sign o' the times mess with your mind
Hurry before it's too late
Let's fall in love, get married, have a baby
We'll call him Nate
If it's a boy
Time
Times
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
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.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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.
Great version of a great song,
A great song with Prince viewing late 80s society as nearing the apocalypse. But the song is unfortunately still relevant (maybe even more so) today. The entire album is in my opinion a concept about late-80s life, when the good times died, finances hurt, people feared world war, and retreated into meaningless sex and drugs to try to escape. So, yeah, pretty much it's not that much different than 2007.
The "big disease with a little name" is obviously AIDS, which at the time the song was written (1986) was still somewhat of a mystery due to it being so unexpected and people having problems distinguishing reality from myth on it. Must have been especially scary for our favorite sex addict Prince.
The teenage Disciples gang refers to the Chicago-based Gangster Disciples gang, which reeked havoc on the city in the 80s and 90s, making Chicago the murder capitol of the US for a lot of years.
The Rocket Ship exploding refers to the Challenger explosion where a schoolteacher who trained to be an astronaut died along with several others.
"Baby make a speech, Star Wars fly" is talking about then-President Ronald Reagan and his Star Wars missile defense shield in outer space during the Cold War. It turned out to be a huge bluff, but possibly prevented nuclear war with Russia.
The ending verse is just a wish to try to enjoy life while you can, and just ignore the bad times. A definite late-80s sign o' the times. Prince is a great lyricist when he wants to be. Unfortunately he spends most of his songs obsessing about sex. That's fine once in a while, but songs like this show he is way too talented to be so low brow all of the time.
@cmp744 I think the last line "We'll call him Nate, if it's a boy." Might reference the Chinese killing their daughters. I just felt that way when I first heard, like they wouldn't keep the maybe unless it was a boy.
@cmp744 I really like your analysis. I agree that Prince did have the talent to write well, but he did write a lot of stupid songs that were radio friendly because he always gives us great production.
"Sister killed her baby 'cause she couldn't afford to feed it, And we're sending people to the moon" I think that line says it all. Prince is so under-rated as a musician and a songwriter, and this song is exhibit A.
definitly one of the best songs ever. It's very similar to Marvin Gaye's What's going on.
social commentry - to a beat and a guitar lick
Genius. such an accurate truthful depiction of our pitiful times even Mr. Bob Dylan couldn't have said it better.
This song has recently been cover by British rock gods Muse, whom I think did an amazing cover of it, you can find it on YouTube. I have heard rumors they were possibly going to.record it which would be awesome. They did it on the Radio 1 and on A French Night show. It's amazing....the trouble is I have been trying to find the Prince version of this song and I cannot find it. Can anyone tell me where I can find it? Every time I try to look it up it only brings up the album of the same name. Thanks in advance if anyone has any advice :-) youtube.com/watch. OR antiquiet.com/news/2012/09/muse-covers-princes-sign-o-the-times-on-radio-1-live-lounge/
@musemadness Prince doesn't let his stuff on the internet, you'll have to buy it.
What are they going to do to that baby if it's not a boy? I can guess.
I always thought he was saying "The Senate knows when the rocket ship explodes."
Totally agree sammm,princes finest song.
godly song