High life
At junction 8 the traffic starts to slow
Artilleries of braking lights and bluish glow
Ascending in a plumage of twisted steel
Shattered glass and confetti dashed upon the wheel
When a car crash gets you off you've lost your grip
When a fuck is not enough you know you've slipped
When the church is full it means you've just been had
When the world has gone to seed you're so detached
Got a feeling that I want you to be there
Driving by on my way to somewhere else
I fill my lungs with a noxious burning smell
There is weed and gray concrete like this for miles
Dead souls in my rear view mirror hitch a ride for a while
I want to be loved
Artilleries of braking lights and bluish glow
Ascending in a plumage of twisted steel
Shattered glass and confetti dashed upon the wheel
When a car crash gets you off you've lost your grip
When a fuck is not enough you know you've slipped
When the church is full it means you've just been had
When the world has gone to seed you're so detached
Got a feeling that I want you to be there
Driving by on my way to somewhere else
I fill my lungs with a noxious burning smell
There is weed and gray concrete like this for miles
Dead souls in my rear view mirror hitch a ride for a while
I want to be loved
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
when rules change
Life in Your Way
Life in Your Way
Grand Theft Auto
Insane Ian
Insane Ian
The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
Word Alive, The
This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Step
Ministry
Ministry
Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"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.
You can definitely see what Steven was describing as his influence in this; the thoughts & feelings of somebody contemplating the cause/consequences of a major motor accident.
But as far as literary allusions, does anybody thing there is a bit of JG Ballard's 'Crash' in there too? (perhaps to cover the mindset of people not in a clear state of mind when on the road?)