"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.
A year now and nothing much has changed
Holed up in a motel in El Paso
This was meant to be my great escape
But, I got lost along the way
Amongst free HBO (Court TV) and take-out
Going to write my Moby Dicks
More like scratching lyrics on paper plates
I spent the best years of my life
Waiting on the best years of my life
So what's there to write about?
What have I done?
What have I done?
So is this my destiny?
From starlight into eternity
The gods must be laughing down at me
Ha, ha, ha
Ha, ha, ha
A traveling salesmen at twenty years old
Stranded in Ann Arbor with a flat tire
And I watch the sun sadly set
Any younger, I may have wept
Much older, I wouldn't notice
But I was out there in the world
Yeah, then the world, it passed me by
I was telling everyone back home
That I was taking it by storm
Instead, I watched it from the roadside
What have I done?
What have I done?
So are these the best tales I can spin?
A boy waiting to begin
A man with no memoirs
What have I done?
What have I done?
You're young and you're going to be someone
Then you're old and you're ashamed of what you've become
Well, take a look around you
You're preaching to the choir
Oh, oh, oh
???
What have I done?
???
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
???
???
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
Holed up in a motel in El Paso
This was meant to be my great escape
But, I got lost along the way
Amongst free HBO (Court TV) and take-out
Going to write my Moby Dicks
More like scratching lyrics on paper plates
I spent the best years of my life
Waiting on the best years of my life
So what's there to write about?
What have I done?
What have I done?
So is this my destiny?
From starlight into eternity
The gods must be laughing down at me
Ha, ha, ha
Ha, ha, ha
A traveling salesmen at twenty years old
Stranded in Ann Arbor with a flat tire
And I watch the sun sadly set
Any younger, I may have wept
Much older, I wouldn't notice
But I was out there in the world
Yeah, then the world, it passed me by
I was telling everyone back home
That I was taking it by storm
Instead, I watched it from the roadside
What have I done?
What have I done?
So are these the best tales I can spin?
A boy waiting to begin
A man with no memoirs
What have I done?
What have I done?
You're young and you're going to be someone
Then you're old and you're ashamed of what you've become
Well, take a look around you
You're preaching to the choir
Oh, oh, oh
???
What have I done?
???
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
???
???
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
What have I done?
Lyrics submitted by Paperface90
What Have I Done? Lyrics as written by Ted James Stevens Matthew Ryan Maginn
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"I spent the best years of my life waiting on the best years of my life"
I feel you, Kasher.
My favorite Cursive song.
the (alternative version, demo) is on the bonus material which I think is better than the album version. Along with I couldnt love you and two song's that didn't make that album.
I hear "oh, tell me daughter, what have I done?"
I get goosebumps every time I listen to this song.
Where did you get Court TV from?
Probably got it from an early version. Some of the songs on "Mama" have been around for months, with youtube videos and radio performances.
For instance, "We're Going to Hell" has almost completely different lyrics than previously available versions.
Yeah I got Court TV from an old version floating around on youtube, there was also a version where there were some lyrics about being up on a stage or something, but I couldn't make them out
Pretty sure the question marks can be filled with "tell me, father" "let my mama know" and "tell me, daughter".. not necessarily in that order... but, that is what I hear.
It can be much easier understood on the Shockhound sessions:
shockhound.com/videos/490-shock-sessions--cursive
Actually, since Tim doesn't have a daughter (to my knowledge) that last one may not be right considering how personal this song is.. but man, it REALLY sounds like it.
I think you're right. It sounds to me like "Tell me daddy" "Let my mom know" "Tell me daughter" and "let my baby know" or "Come on baby now" The last one I really can't get much from except baby.
Sounds like a lot of things, sadness, remorse, anger, fear. The most to the point lyrics I think are:
"You're young and you're going to be someone Then you're old and you're ashamed of what you've become Well, take a look around you You're preaching to the choir"
What have YOU done?
youre preaching to the choir... man dont be so hard on yourself TIM lol...
man what a eye opener for everyone.