"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.
On a winter's Sunday I go
To clear away the snow
And green the ground below
April all an ocean away
Is this a better way to spend the day?
Keeping the winter at bay
What were the words I meant to say
Before you left
When I could see your breath lead
Where you were going to
Maybe I should just let it be
And maybe it will all come back to me
Seeing, oh, January, oh
How I lived a childhood in the snow
And all my teens in tow
Stuffed in strata of clothes
Hail the winter days after dark
Wandering the gray memorial park
A fleeting beating of hearts
What were the words I meant to say
Before she left
When I could see her breath lead
Where she was going to
Maybe I should just let it be
And maybe it will all come back to me
Seeing, oh, Janu...
Oh, January, oh
To clear away the snow
And green the ground below
April all an ocean away
Is this a better way to spend the day?
Keeping the winter at bay
What were the words I meant to say
Before you left
When I could see your breath lead
Where you were going to
Maybe I should just let it be
And maybe it will all come back to me
Seeing, oh, January, oh
How I lived a childhood in the snow
And all my teens in tow
Stuffed in strata of clothes
Hail the winter days after dark
Wandering the gray memorial park
A fleeting beating of hearts
What were the words I meant to say
Before she left
When I could see her breath lead
Where she was going to
Maybe I should just let it be
And maybe it will all come back to me
Seeing, oh, Janu...
Oh, January, oh
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"April all an ocean away?"
And pretty sure it's "Sing oh, january..."
Shoot, I meant to rate this + but I clicked the wrong button.<br /> <br /> It is "Sing oh, January, oh"
I believe it is "When I could see your breath lead / where you were going to."
The tracklisting for the new album "The King is Dead" came out (yay!) and I this song is actually called January Hymn.
"April all an ocean away"
"Sing oh, January, oh"
"And all my teens in tow Stuffed in strata of clothes" (strata as in layers)
"Wandering the gray memorial park"
One correction to your corrections:<br /> How I lived a childhood in the snow<br /> And all my dreams in tow<br /> Stuffed and strata of clothes
The perfect song to listen to on a snowy winter day
To me, this song seems to parallel two similar situations at a different time. The first is in the presence tense, and the narrator is an adult shoveling snow. He is parting with someone, and I get the impression it is his wife. He doesn’t know what to say as she leaves.
This makes him remember walking through the park with, I guess, a different girl in his teens. He didn’t know what to say then either and it seems things didn’t work out.
I wonder if he’s wishing he would have figured out what to say back then to avoid the situation he is in now.
Either way, it’s a really beautiful song.
I think the "snow" and "winter" are metaphors about being lonely, and wanting to be with someone, but knowing it's too late.
The line "where you are going to" and the accompanying melody seem really familiar. Is this a tribute to another song? I'm pretty sure it is but I can't put my finger on it and it's driving me nuts
I think it's "Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan - the bit with the "I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to"
I love this song but can't make sense of the lines "When I could see her breath lead/Where she were going to," could someone please explain to me what they mean? (literally, at least)
when it's really cold out your breath forms a cloud in front of you, which is the literal interpretation I get for seeing her breath lead
thanks, maybe she is looking away from him, her mind already set to where she's going to, and her breath seems to be leading the way...
for some reason, this scene reminds me of another Dylan's song, "I couldn't see what you could show me/Your scarf had kept your mouth well hid... I couldn't see when it started snowing/Your voice was all that I heard/I couldn't see where we were going"
On a winter's Sunday I go To clear away the snow And green the ground below
April all an ocean away Is this a better way to spend the day? Keeping the winter at bay
What were the words I meant to say Before you left When I could see your breath lead Where you were going to
Maybe I should just let it be And maybe it will all come back to me Sing Oh, January, Oh
How I lived a childhood in the snow And all my teens in tow Stuffed and strata of clothes
Hail the winter days after dark Wondering the gray memorial park A Fleeting beating of hearts
What were the words I meant to say Before She left When I could see her breath lead Where she were going to
Maybe I should just let it be And maybe it will all come back to me Seeing, oh, Janu-- Oh, January, Oh
(there were enough parts that needed correction, I just thought it'd be easier to go line by line. Sorry for the flood of things. This song makes me cry every time I listen to it - which is often - due to my sister, whom I was very close to, being killed in a car crash, in January, at the age of 19. Love forever to my amazing sister Sun Yi, wherever she was to make sure this song got to me.)
On a winter's Sunday I go<br /> To clear away the snow<br /> And green the ground below<br /> <br /> April all an ocean away (makes sense since a lot of this album deals with months/seasons)<br /> Is this a better way to spend the day?<br /> Keeping the winter at bay<br /> <br /> What were the words I meant to say<br /> Before you left<br /> When I could see your breath lead<br /> Where you were going to<br /> <br /> Maybe I should just let it be<br /> And maybe it will all come back to me<br /> Sing Oh, January, Oh<br /> <br /> How I lived a childhood in snow<br /> And all my teens in tow<br /> Stuffed in strata of clothes<br /> <br /> Hail the winter days after dark<br /> Wandering the gray memorial park (wandering, not wondering)<br /> A Fleeting beating of hearts<br /> <br /> What were the words I meant to say<br /> Before She left<br /> When I could see her breath lead<br /> Where she were going to<br /> <br /> Maybe I should just let it be<br /> And maybe it will all come back to me<br /> Seeing, oh, Janu-- Oh, January, Oh