"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.
Well I spent last night in Las Cruces Jail.
Raining hail, born to fail.
Nobody come for to go my bail.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Well I shot one man on the county line.
Took his dime and I blew his mind.
Now I'm just sittin' here doin' time.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Well a restless wind is whistling through the windows in my head,
Through all the scrapes that I've survived.
And in my hour of darkness I keep counsel with the dead,
Just enough to remind me I'm alive.
Well I write to the governor for to hear my plea
But he don't even answer me.
The judge said he's gonna set my spirit free.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Gavel fell, he chose the day,
Cattle tie, thirteenth of May.
But I don't plan to go that way.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Goodnight my Anda-Lucia.
Don't buy all the lies that they feed ya.
And though you're heading slowly to some place I can't respect,
I'll keep you in my collection of regrets.
And that's twenty-one fell by my gun, oh, they all fell the same.
Just need one more to match my age.
Then I'll count my killin' done. but I won't deny my name:
Quickest wrist of chaparral and sage.
Now desperate times call for desperate men,
I'm just a kid but I'll pretend my time will come but until then,
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Well I see that gallows altar, that circle 'round the Sun.
They're gonna hang me if I stay here, and shoot me if I run.
That jailer better watch his pride
Or off my wrists these shackles slide.
Hear my restless forty-five.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Goodnight my Anda-Lucia.
Don't buy all the lies that they feed ya.
And though you're heading slowly to some place I can't respect,
I'll keep you in my collection of regrets.
And down the highway, down the road, to infamy I'll ride.
I'll take my pardon on the run,
With a trail of death behind me and Deluvina at my side,
Two silhouettes against the Sun.
Well I spent last night in Las Cruces Jail.
Raining hail, born to Fail.
Nobody come for to go my bail.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Raining hail, born to fail.
Nobody come for to go my bail.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Well I shot one man on the county line.
Took his dime and I blew his mind.
Now I'm just sittin' here doin' time.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Well a restless wind is whistling through the windows in my head,
Through all the scrapes that I've survived.
And in my hour of darkness I keep counsel with the dead,
Just enough to remind me I'm alive.
Well I write to the governor for to hear my plea
But he don't even answer me.
The judge said he's gonna set my spirit free.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Gavel fell, he chose the day,
Cattle tie, thirteenth of May.
But I don't plan to go that way.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Goodnight my Anda-Lucia.
Don't buy all the lies that they feed ya.
And though you're heading slowly to some place I can't respect,
I'll keep you in my collection of regrets.
And that's twenty-one fell by my gun, oh, they all fell the same.
Just need one more to match my age.
Then I'll count my killin' done. but I won't deny my name:
Quickest wrist of chaparral and sage.
Now desperate times call for desperate men,
I'm just a kid but I'll pretend my time will come but until then,
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Well I see that gallows altar, that circle 'round the Sun.
They're gonna hang me if I stay here, and shoot me if I run.
That jailer better watch his pride
Or off my wrists these shackles slide.
Hear my restless forty-five.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
Goodnight my Anda-Lucia.
Don't buy all the lies that they feed ya.
And though you're heading slowly to some place I can't respect,
I'll keep you in my collection of regrets.
And down the highway, down the road, to infamy I'll ride.
I'll take my pardon on the run,
With a trail of death behind me and Deluvina at my side,
Two silhouettes against the Sun.
Well I spent last night in Las Cruces Jail.
Raining hail, born to Fail.
Nobody come for to go my bail.
Sun, don't you rise no more.
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There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Well, since im from Las Cruces, NM, and have been incarcerated at our detention center here (unfortunately) it is obvious that the person who wrote this song wasn't in the same place I was. Since there are no windows it would be hard for the wind to whistle through. Yes it is without a shadow of a doubt about Billy the Kid. Not only because of the things others have mentioned but also because Las Cruces (and Mesilla) are where the Kid use to run. Billy is buried about 15-20 minutes driving distance away from Las Cruces at Fort Seldon. As a matter of fact my very good friend has a pool table that the kid used to play on. It has a secret compartment at one end that drops down. Judging by its size and with knowledge of his lifestyle we have theorized that this is where he kept a gun...just in case.
i'm guessing this song's about billy the kid, judging by the reference to deluvina - a mother figure to him. the rest's pretty self explanatory. love this song!
I agree with the Billy the Kid idea that Skunkfish put forth...the number of dead, the small wrists, the restless .45....etc.
This song is great and it changes pace so often that it is hard to nail down. It goes from slow to fast to slow and back to fast again....a great ride and great lyrics.
"Two Silhouttes Against the Sun" !!!!!ownage!!!!!
Umm, you're missing a few verses.
I saw these guys a couple nights back, opening for Les Claypool. This was the first song they played, and it blew me away.
And yeah, a couple verses are missing, I think.
yeah this song is great. the first one i heard from them. yes, as you guys said it's missing a few verses. i'm seeing them in gainseville soon i can not wait. i agree about the billy the kid thing.
yeah...this is the first song i heard of two gallants...i fall in love straightway!!
First 2 gals track i heard over here in UK courtesy of NME...and fell in love with them. The 'collection of regrets' line in this is awesome,
isnt "with bullets in their brains" supposed to be "lord, they all fell the same"