"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.
*The beat that my heart skipped sounded like THIS:
Every now and then I cower and I need to find empowerment
Empowerment is paramount to how I can begin to mount
A plan that I can implement
to make a dent on ignorance
Instead of drunk belligerence
and the dissidence of miscreants
Especially in this instance
with the never ending persistence
to use the words in each sentence
as if they were blunt instruments
to beat a hole in the defence
of this beauty and her innocence
which serves to just build resistance
in spite of all my good intents.
The beat that my heart skipped.
*This is the beat that my heart skipped.
*This is the beat that my heart skipped.
This is the beat that my heart skipped when we first met
Now that I`ve heard it, it leaves me with a kind of regret
No disrespect
We just left a lot of people upset
And what we had wasn`t really what we`d come to expect
Well good god damn and other such phrases
I haven`t heard a beat like this in ages
To miss such a beat would have been outrageous
But when you heart skips a beat its ruthless and aimless
She caught my attention in her fishnets
Then she reeled me in expecting nothing more than kissed necks and quick sex
But that weren`t the case with this platinum princess
She`d attracted my interest
So I wanted to impress�.
Upon her all the positive things
That come form having more than just a one night fling
But that`s something easier in theory than in practice
Since pick up lines are tactics
To get prey to the mattress
And this actress
Is practiced
In shunning such theatrics
When put upon daily by tactless geriatrics
So my genuine advances are met with rue scepticism
Throwing complements but she just straight elects to miss them
Her lips were put on this earth for dispersing wisdom
God forbid I suggest she lets me kiss them
But I really want to know what she thinks of me
Because I`m loving every idiosyncrasy
But I ain`t one to jump through hoops to make a 1st impression
Been there, done that, learnt the worst of lessons
We want to be loved for who we appear to be instead of who we are
*So I real selves hide behind the pomp and the façade
And that`s as true of the rude boys, downing pints and acting hard
As of the kids shunning convention with clinical disregard
*This is the beat that my heart skipped.
*This is the beat that my heart skipped when we first met
*Now that I`ve heard it, it leaves me with a kind of regret
*No disrespect
*We just left a lot of people upset
*And what we had wasn`t really what we`d come to expect
*Every now and then I cower and I need to find empowerment
*Empowerment is paramount to how I can begin to mount
*A plan that I can implement
*to make a dent on ignorance
*Instead of drunk belligerence
*and the dissidence of miscreants
*Especially in this instance
*with the never ending persistence
*to use the words in each sentence
*as if they were blunt instruments
*to beat a hole in the defence
*of this beauty and her innocence
*which serves to just build resistance
*in spite of all my good intents.
*The beat that my heart skipped.
*This is the beat that my heart skipped.
Every now and then I cower and I need to find empowerment
Empowerment is paramount to how I can begin to mount
A plan that I can implement
to make a dent on ignorance
Instead of drunk belligerence
and the dissidence of miscreants
Especially in this instance
with the never ending persistence
to use the words in each sentence
as if they were blunt instruments
to beat a hole in the defence
of this beauty and her innocence
which serves to just build resistance
in spite of all my good intents.
The beat that my heart skipped.
*This is the beat that my heart skipped.
*This is the beat that my heart skipped.
This is the beat that my heart skipped when we first met
Now that I`ve heard it, it leaves me with a kind of regret
No disrespect
We just left a lot of people upset
And what we had wasn`t really what we`d come to expect
Well good god damn and other such phrases
I haven`t heard a beat like this in ages
To miss such a beat would have been outrageous
But when you heart skips a beat its ruthless and aimless
She caught my attention in her fishnets
Then she reeled me in expecting nothing more than kissed necks and quick sex
But that weren`t the case with this platinum princess
She`d attracted my interest
So I wanted to impress�.
Upon her all the positive things
That come form having more than just a one night fling
But that`s something easier in theory than in practice
Since pick up lines are tactics
To get prey to the mattress
And this actress
Is practiced
In shunning such theatrics
When put upon daily by tactless geriatrics
So my genuine advances are met with rue scepticism
Throwing complements but she just straight elects to miss them
Her lips were put on this earth for dispersing wisdom
God forbid I suggest she lets me kiss them
But I really want to know what she thinks of me
Because I`m loving every idiosyncrasy
But I ain`t one to jump through hoops to make a 1st impression
Been there, done that, learnt the worst of lessons
We want to be loved for who we appear to be instead of who we are
*So I real selves hide behind the pomp and the façade
And that`s as true of the rude boys, downing pints and acting hard
As of the kids shunning convention with clinical disregard
*This is the beat that my heart skipped.
*This is the beat that my heart skipped when we first met
*Now that I`ve heard it, it leaves me with a kind of regret
*No disrespect
*We just left a lot of people upset
*And what we had wasn`t really what we`d come to expect
*Every now and then I cower and I need to find empowerment
*Empowerment is paramount to how I can begin to mount
*A plan that I can implement
*to make a dent on ignorance
*Instead of drunk belligerence
*and the dissidence of miscreants
*Especially in this instance
*with the never ending persistence
*to use the words in each sentence
*as if they were blunt instruments
*to beat a hole in the defence
*of this beauty and her innocence
*which serves to just build resistance
*in spite of all my good intents.
*The beat that my heart skipped.
*This is the beat that my heart skipped.
Lyrics submitted by lostinhollywood, edited by Collin24
The Beat That My Heart Skipped Lyrics as written by Daniel Stephens David Meads
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Songtrust Ave
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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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,
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I think that what he's trying to tell is a tale of meeting a girl and wanting to know her rather than having a quick fling with her, but really didn't know how to approach her without her thinking of him as just another guy wanting to get laid.
P.S. Awsome music!!!
what a tune. razor sharp lyrical ability and a good hook.
as far as i can see its a concious stream of this man remembering meeting a woman, how he felt about her and now its over. his memories become entiwned with his feelings about human frailty when we meet others and put on a front to the point we are no longer ourselves. "using words as blunt instruments" to paint false pictures of ourselves. I presume him and this women had something deeper than your average one night stand and he now misses it.
thisll big (i hope)
i think perhaps it is this guy who wants to talk to a woman and eventually have a relationship with her and "mount" her, but he doesn't know what to say without sounding as if he is using "blunt intruments" for words making it sound as if he doesn't have "good intents" when actually he does.
i think also perhaps this woman doesn't want to know him because his words are met with "scepticism" which is tough on him because he wants to "kiss" her lips.
he is now thinking back to this instant and remembering his heartbeat which leaves him with "regret" because he really wanted to get with the woman and they left a lot of people "upset" maybe because they wanted them to get to together, like when friends are like 'you two would be good together' and it never happens
thats what i think anyway as well as the fact that the lyrics are excellent and love the rhyming! very clever.
good god damn! so damn catchy!
could be about how every women thinks youre just trying to get into their pants, even if you're just saying 'hi' and being polite.
so so so catchy it makes me smile because of who it reminds me of.
anyone got the lyrics to the intro on the album version?
This is obvious. Simply about how he fell in love with a girl- love at first sight. Then they got together. Then they split up because they weren't really going well together ("What we had wasn't really what we'd come to expect") and also because he must have dumped someone for her and she dumped someone for him and then a load of people must have fancied them etc etc etc. ("No disrespect, but we left a lot of people upset") Ok maybe not so simple. Great song nevertheless =] xxx
I tried the intro. "Tattenous" isn't a word though :-(
"I ain't gonna take it no more. I ain't gonna take it no more. I ain't gonna stand idly by while the bridal reply of a marriage of stars is "yeah, what's their demographic?" I ain't gonna take it no more. I ain't gonna take it no more. I ain't gonna stand idly by with a tattenous sigh while inside we all cry OUT for something new. I ain't gonna take it no more. I ain't gonna take it no more. Soulless music. Artless lyrics. Goalless movements. Heartless gimmicks. Controlled and clueless. Careers lasting a minute. If this is the big life, well I ain't looking to live it. We ain't pushing the boundaries, we're blowing them up! We ain't trying to expand the scene; we want the scene to erupt. So make some room on the floor and somebody bolt the doors cos tonight we ain't seeking applause. Tonight, well gee… we're just looking to have some good new-fashioned fun, y'all."
wouldn't the word be "tartness"