"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.
Intravenously polite it was the walkie-talkies
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
They had defected and been excommunicated
And all the pulses were subverted
And they made sure that the obituaries
Showed pictures of smoke stacks
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
A vivid dissection that mocked
The strut of vivisection
A semiautomatic colony
And a silencing that still walks the streets
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
In the company of wolves
Was a stretcher made of cobblestone curfews
The federales performed
Their custodial customs quite well
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
Intravenously polite it was the walkie-talkies
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
They had defected and been excommunicated
And all the pulses were subverted
And they made sure that the obituaries
Showed pictures of smoke stacks
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
A vivid dissection that mocked
The strut of vivisection
A semiautomatic colony
And a silencing that still walks the streets
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
In the company of wolves
Was a stretcher made of cobblestone curfews
The federales performed
Their custodial customs quite well
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
Intravenously polite it was the walkie-talkies
That had knocked the pins down
As their shoes gripped the dirt floor
In the silhouette of dying
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Yeah, they had plans for him
They has spun the last of the pimps
Polyester, satin nailed jewelry lips
While the guillotine just laughed again
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
And the paramedics fell into the wound
Like a rehired scab at a barehanded plant
An anesthetic penance beneath
The hail of contraband
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way, nails broke and fell
Into the wishing well, wishing well, wishing well
On my way
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Dancing on the corpses' ashes
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
Callous heels numbed in travel
Endless maps made by their scalpels, scalpels
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
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
As explained in the video for this song, this song is about something that takes place in mexico. There's factories there called maquilladoras where young women work for shitty pay. Each year, women that work there dissapear and are found months later dead. They are constantly mistreated and the government doesn't do anything, so ATDI made a song about it. Although they aren't girls...
I love seeing different perspectives
Here's my own interpretation of some of the song lyrics:
"On my way, Nails broke and fell Into the Wishing well. Wishing well. Wishing well."
"On my way" is the women's journey from birth to death
"Nails broke and fell" is the women's effort they put into the work at the factories, and their working conditions
"Wishing well" is a representation of MATERIALISM
Put this all together and you get;
All of their lives [on my way], the women have been doing hard labour in poor working conditions [nails broke and fell], for the gain of materialism that the factories represent [INTO the wishing well]. "Wishing well" can also mean the easy life these women are promised they will achieve by doing this labour.
Also these lyrics:
"Callous heels numbed in travel endless maps made by their scalpels"
"Callous heels numbed in travel" notes the hardhip of the women traveling from home to work and back each day, I don't live in Mexico, but I could hardly imagine that these women were rich, which means they must of endured the harsh terrain most likely barefoot.
"Endless maps made by their scalpels" in this line, "their", is a collective for the murderers and the paramedics/police. The murderers torture the women, then the paramedics/police cut them up later for autopsy.
Finally, I will explore the title "Invalid Litter dept."
"Litter" is a represention of the mass of dead bodies of the victims
"Invalid" means not true, correct or valid
"dept." short for department, gives the idea that "Invalid Litter dept." is an organisation
Ultimately, the title is naming the mexican police dept., "Invalid Litter dept.", because they treat the "litter" that is the bodies as if they are "Invalid".
This better help
Thanks ;3
@ninjamikey <br /> Hey i know it’s been a decade and I don’t if you skipped it BC it’s obvious but....<br /> <br /> “Invalid litter dept” sounds like<br /> invalid LETTER dept (which is a real thing)<br /> And also <br /> A place cries for justice might go to die.<br /> <br /> Hope it helps!!’<br /> Happy ATDIing!!!
@ninjamikey <br /> <br />
This song is about the murders in El Paso, Texas.
As far as i know its about the rape and murder that happens to women in juarez, mexico. the video is really powerful as well and clever because it has subtitles and explains what is happening over there in recent times......very smart and informative. at the drive-in are great for capturing things like this and explaining it.
well besides the obviuos i think this song emphasizes the fact that things like this can go so far and no one seems to care
shadowwiththeeyes.. I dont know if i'm right but the line .. on my way nails broke and fell into the wishing well... to me this kind of just means like the woman as they are being captured are making wishes to survive and nails into the wishing well is just kind of like how we throw a coin into a wishing well but he used nails to emphasize that it is a woman because they have long nails
Having loved this song repeatedly and thoroughly but never understood it, I was gratified to read about the murder meaning, as horrified as I was by the stories of those murdered women. Finally this song comes clear to me. However: "Callous heels, numbed in travel, endless maps made by the scalpels" has been a line that I sung throatily along with, feeling like it meant: I've got a lot of miles on me, and my heels are numbed and calloused because of this. Contact with others has left me traced with "maps" of lines carved by their "scalpels"- hands, words, bodies, actions. Learning about the women makes me think that the anguish in those verses is theirs, the callous heels are theirs, numbed with travel to the shitty jobs and wherever else they had to go in their lives, and the maps were carved by the bastards that hurt those women with God only knows what kind of weapons (scalpels). I hope this makes sense to somebody. Thanks for reading.
Well I beg to differ when people say that Sparta can't touch ATDI... Ever heard Collapse or breaking the broken? Anyway, this song is still amazing. I just wish there was something I could do about it...
A song about rape, and a lot more. I really love the part about "and they made sure the obituaries showed pictures of smoke stacks."
they sing about that in some other song too... one on acrobatic tenement...
"they tipped their hats, respect for the dead... in jarez, mexico, where they buried my friend"