"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.
with your E's
and your ease
and I do one more
need a lip gloss boost
in your america
is it God's
is it your's
sweet saliva
with your E's
and your ease
and I do one more
I know we're dying
and there's no sign of a parachute
we scream in cathedrals
why can't it be beautiful
why does there
gotta be a sacrifice
just say yes
you little arsonist
you're so sure you can save
every hair on my chest
just say yes
you little arsonist
with your E's
and your ease
and I do one more
well I know we're dying
and there's no sign of a parachute
in this chapel
little chapel of love
can't we get a little grace
and some elegance
no we scream in cathedrals
why can't it be beautiful
why does there
gotta be a sacrifice
and your ease
and I do one more
need a lip gloss boost
in your america
is it God's
is it your's
sweet saliva
with your E's
and your ease
and I do one more
I know we're dying
and there's no sign of a parachute
we scream in cathedrals
why can't it be beautiful
why does there
gotta be a sacrifice
just say yes
you little arsonist
you're so sure you can save
every hair on my chest
just say yes
you little arsonist
with your E's
and your ease
and I do one more
well I know we're dying
and there's no sign of a parachute
in this chapel
little chapel of love
can't we get a little grace
and some elegance
no we scream in cathedrals
why can't it be beautiful
why does there
gotta be a sacrifice
Lyrics submitted by andshedied
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Wow I was listening to this song today and all of a sudden it just clicked. . . to me the song means being addicted to drugs (E=ecstacy) and maybe prostitution. Basically the woman is being lured into that world with drugs by a man with charm and an ease about him, so it siphons her. "Need a lip gloss boost in your America". . . basically that she needs to keep up with looking in her world of prostitution, which is basically the america that she lives in. Then after doing all of these things, she realizes that she's slowly wasting away and she can't get out of it, so she "does one more" ecstacy to take her mind off of it. Screaming in cathedrals. . . begging for help wherever she can get it, even at the church, a holy place. And she's basically sacrificing herself and all of her dreams because she's addicted. Sorry if this post didn't make much sense, but it just struck me and I HAD to post it.
I couldn't agree more - that's what clicked with me as well. The Es I think definitely stand for Ecstacy and the "Lip Gloss boost", "Is it God's, is it your's, sweet saliva" - I basically picture a crackwhore giving a blowjob, she needs to reapply her make-up "In your America" because this whole country is governed by men and the Church. I definitely think this song is about misogyny in religion and how America is run by men who gather their values from the Bible which places women at the bottom of their hierarchy. I think the line "WE SCREAM IN CATHEDRALS" is loaded with meaning because according to the Bible, women are never allowed to speak up in a church.
..doin all the efforts and giving in..all the time..being the one trying to make things work out.. and the not-seeing the other trying to do so..at least.."and ure ease and i do one more" makes any relationship fade out.. "i know we're dying and theres no sing of a parachute" "why cant it be beautiful"--> why cant things work out between us..maybe?:S ...its about being tired of this.."relationship" were..theres only one of the two on it..
I really like this song. Just the image of someone screaming in a Cathedral is just chilling, and the way the sound changes from soft to angry when she says "Just say yes you little arsonist" is wonderful.
I love this song....for me it\'s about being frustrated, feeling helpless... the last time I heard it I imagined a woman kneeling in a cathedral and screaming because she was desperate, frustrated and sad. It fits perfectly... I love the line \"why can\'t it be beautiful, why does the gotta be a sacrifice\" I\'ve heard that Tori wrote the song after her miscarriage...
If you haven't seen the version of this song she performed on Sessions at West 54th, track down a copy, it is absolutely incredible. SHe puts so much energy, sadness and anger into her performance, it truly leaves you in awe... She makes many references to the "sacrifice" being her miscarriage.
"Is it God's...is it your's?"
After I lost my child, that line really stung because I asked that same question.
i always thought this song was about her miscarriage(s). the screaming at cathedrals and "is it god's.. is it yours?" bits make it seem like she was questioning god's intentions.. or something like that. "why does there gotta be a sacrifice?" being about the miscarriage.
the sessions at west 54th was just.. incredible. i felt like i shouldn't have been watching it.
You were there?!?!?!
When she was on storytellers she explained what it was about, it was on youtube a while ago but cannot seem to find it anymore...
I seem to remember it was when she had had a miscarriage and she kept having dreams but about a young boy whispering in her ear and he looked after her.
She had recurring visions of a child calling to her, beckoning her to follow the child. Out her door and into her car. The child was taking her somewhere she didn't know, but she knew when she got there, someone wouldn't be alive anymore. The child would stand in the back of the car with his arms outstretched akin to a crucifixion and say Iieee... which she transformed into the Iieee in the song. This information came from an interview where she explained the meaning... however, I saw it ages ago... so this is just my best recollection of her explanation.
yes it was a zuni or a hope indian boy that was telling her to go and build a fire