Wednesday, January 4, 2023

My Favorite Car/Driving Songs: Tracy Chapman - Fast Car (1988)



In my 2nd edition of The Automobile and American Life,  I strengthens two chapters dealing with the period between 1980 and the present.  However, I did little to supplement my popular culture analysis of car/driving music. Recent and future posts will try to address this omission.

This song contains a mix of emotions starting rather down and then picking up as the lyrics move forward. Overall, the song is uplifting and calming, like what happens when I drive for a while on open roads. While I am behind the while in more rural traffic I can finally take stop of the day, think about what is really important, and peacefully deal with the challenges that confront me. At times I drift away, almost oblivious to the environment around me.  Later, I cannot even remember the details associated with the side of the road I just traversed. Driving can be a dream-like state, observant but not observant of the details outside my moving capsule.

You got a fast carI want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterStarting from zero got nothing to loseMaybe we'll make somethingMe, myself, I got nothing to prove
You got a fast carI got a plan to get us outta hereI been working at the convenience storeManaged to save just a little bit of moneyWon't have to drive too farJust 'cross the border and into the cityYou and I can both get jobsAnd finally see what it means to be living
See, my old man's got a problemHe live with the bottle, that's the way it isHe says his body's too old for workingHis body's too young to look like hisMy mama went off and left himShe wanted more from life than he could giveI said somebody's got to take care of himSo I quit school and that's what I did
You got a fast carIs it fast enough so we can fly away?We gotta make a decisionLeave tonight or live and die this way
So I remember when we were driving, driving in your carSpeed so fast it felt like I was drunkCity lights lay out before usAnd your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulderAnd I-I had a feeling that I belongedI-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast carWe go cruising, entertain ourselvesYou still ain't got a jobAnd I work in the market as a checkout girlI know things will get betterYou'll find work and I'll get promotedWe'll move out of the shelterBuy a bigger house and live in the suburbs
So I remember when we were driving, driving in your carSpeed so fast it felt like I was drunkCity lights lay out before usAnd your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulderAnd I-I had a feeling that I belongedI-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast carI got a job that pays all our billsYou stay out drinking late at the barSee more of your friends than you do of your kidsI'd always hoped for betterThought maybe together you and me'd find itI got no plans, I ain't going nowhereTake your fast car and keep on driving
So I remember when we were driving, driving in your carSpeed so fast it felt like I was drunkCity lights lay out before usAnd your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulderAnd I-I had a feeling that I belongedI-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
You got a fast carIs it fast enough so you can fly away?You gotta make a decisionLeave tonight or live and die this way

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