"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.
We hold together [1]
We put up with each other
We stick together
No one will slow us down
We remain loyal to you
We stand by that
We follow the rules
if we are allowed to rule
And the shark, it has tears [2]
And they run down its face
But the shark lives in the water
so no one sees the tears
We keep up the pace
We keep our word
If one (of us) isn't keeping up
we stop right away
We keep our eyes open
We hold each other by the arm
Six hearts that burn
The fire keeps you warm
And the shark, it has tears
And they run down its face
But the shark lives in the water
so no one sees the tears
In the depths it is lonely
And so many a tear flows [3]
And that is why the water
in the seas is salty
They can think whatever
they want about us
We keep each other harmless [4]
We will never stop
And the shark...
In the depths it is lonely
And so many a tear flows
And that is why the water
in the seas is salty
And the shark...
[1] The song uses the verb "halten" in may different ways (prefixes, etc.) that cannot all be translated with the same verb in English so most of the repetition is lost in translation.
[2] The chorus was inspired by the song "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" ("Mack the Knife") from the Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.
Part of the original song:
Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne
Und die trägt er im Gesicht
Und MacHeath, der hat ein Messer
Doch das Messer sieht man nicht
And my translation:
And the shark, it has teeth
And it wears them in its face
And MacHeath, he has a knife
But no one sees the knife
[3] "Zähre" is an archaic word for "tear", even more closely related to the English word than the usual German word, "Träne".
[4] "Schadlos halten" is legal terminology that means "to hold harmless", "to indemnify", and so on, but that doesn't seem to fit here.
We put up with each other
We stick together
No one will slow us down
We remain loyal to you
We stand by that
We follow the rules
if we are allowed to rule
And the shark, it has tears [2]
And they run down its face
But the shark lives in the water
so no one sees the tears
We keep up the pace
We keep our word
If one (of us) isn't keeping up
we stop right away
We keep our eyes open
We hold each other by the arm
Six hearts that burn
The fire keeps you warm
And the shark, it has tears
And they run down its face
But the shark lives in the water
so no one sees the tears
In the depths it is lonely
And so many a tear flows [3]
And that is why the water
in the seas is salty
They can think whatever
they want about us
We keep each other harmless [4]
We will never stop
And the shark...
In the depths it is lonely
And so many a tear flows
And that is why the water
in the seas is salty
And the shark...
[1] The song uses the verb "halten" in may different ways (prefixes, etc.) that cannot all be translated with the same verb in English so most of the repetition is lost in translation.
[2] The chorus was inspired by the song "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" ("Mack the Knife") from the Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.
Part of the original song:
Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne
Und die trägt er im Gesicht
Und MacHeath, der hat ein Messer
Doch das Messer sieht man nicht
And my translation:
And the shark, it has teeth
And it wears them in its face
And MacHeath, he has a knife
But no one sees the knife
[3] "Zähre" is an archaic word for "tear", even more closely related to the English word than the usual German word, "Träne".
[4] "Schadlos halten" is legal terminology that means "to hold harmless", "to indemnify", and so on, but that doesn't seem to fit here.
Lyrics submitted by Jonny2, edited by drakengard
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
This is a very, very bad translation. It's all wrong. How did you translate this? Google Translator?
I tried my best, here's my improvement (translated analogous):<br /> <br /> We hold together<br /> we endure each other<br /> we close ranks<br /> No one stops us<br /> <br /> We pledge allegiance to you<br /> we stand fast to it<br /> we stand to the rules<br /> if you let us rule<br /> <br /> And the shark, he has tears<br /> And they run from his face,<br /> But the shark lives in the water<br /> so the tears you cannot see<br /> <br /> We keep the pace<br /> We keep our word;<br /> If one cannot keep up,<br /> we abrubtly stop<br /> <br /> We keep our eyes open,<br /> we stick together<br /> six hearts that burn<br /> the fire keeps you warm<br /> <br /> And the shark, he has tears<br /> And they run from his face,<br /> But the shark lives in the water<br /> so the tears you cannot see<br /> <br /> It's lonely in the depth<br /> and many a teardrop falls<br /> that's the reason why<br /> the ocean is so saline<br /> <br /> One can think of us<br /> whatever you want;<br /> we recoup ourselves<br /> we never hold still.<br /> <br /> And the shark, he has tears<br /> And they run from his face,<br /> But the shark lives in the water<br /> so the tears you cannot see<br /> <br /> It's lonely in the depth<br /> and many a teardrop falls<br /> that's the reason why<br /> the ocean is so saline<br /> <br /> And the shark, he has tears<br /> And they run from his face,<br /> But the shark lives in the water<br /> so the tears you cannot see
this translation fits better. it's from jerry wiliams, from herzelied.com We hold together [1] We put up with each other We stick together No one will slow us down
We remain loyal to you We stand by that We follow the rules if we are allowed to rule
And the shark, it has tears [2] And they run down its face But the shark lives in the water so no one sees the tears
We keep up the pace We keep our word If one (of us) isn't keeping up we stop right away
We keep our eyes open We hold each other by the arm Six hearts that burn The fire keeps you warm
And the shark, it has tears And they run down its face But the shark lives in the water so no one sees the tears
In the depths it is lonely And so many a tear flows [3] And that is why the water in the seas is salty
They can think whatever they want about us We keep each other harmless [4] We will never stop
And the shark...
In the depths it is lonely And so many a tear flows And that is why the water in the seas is salty
And the shark... [1] The song uses the verb "halten" in may different ways (prefixes, etc.) that cannot all be translated with the same verb in English so most of the repetition is lost in translation.
[2] The chorus was inspired by the song "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" ("Mack the Knife") from the Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill.
Part of the original song: Und der Haifisch, der hat Zähne Und die trägt er im Gesicht Und MacHeath, der hat ein Messer Doch das Messer sieht man nicht
And my translation: And the shark, it has teeth And it wears them in its face And MacHeath, he has a knife But no one sees the knife
[3] "Zähre" is an archaic word for "tear", even more closely related to the English word than the usual German word, "Träne".
[4] "Schadlos halten" is legal terminology that means "to hold harmless", "to indemnify", and so on, but that doesn't seem to fit here.
that being said, it's probably about the band, how they're viewed by everyone else as being dangerous, but really they are just harmless.
@damacles It isn't clear why "hold harmless" seems a bad fit to translate "Schadlos halten" in this song but your footnote made me wonder if you knew the phrase "hold harmless" is also a legal term in English, used just the same way as its German counterpart. That makes it exactly the right fit in an English version of the song, especially as it restores a "halten/hold" word repeated in the song, otherwise lost as you discuss in your first footnote.<br /> <br /> Lemme know if I'm way off base on this, please. You've done a nice job with a song whose deceptively "simple" phrasing is really a subtle and complex bit of poetry ... and not at all easy to translate.