Car Song: "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman - "Is it fast enough so we can fly away?"

?

"Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman

Such a moving song -- oops.  Didn't mean the pun.

Have always liked it.

Above she is singing it; below are the lyrics.



"Fast Car"

by Tracy Chapman

1988

You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere

Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money

We won't have to drive too far
Just across the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living

You see my old man's got a problem
He live with the bottle that's the way it is
He says his body's too old for working
I say his body's too young to look like his

My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody's got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

See I remember we were driving, driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder

And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
We go cruising entertain ourselves
You still ain't got a job
And I work in the market as a checkout girl

I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs

See I remember we were driving, driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder

And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
And I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids

I'd always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me'd find it
I got no plans I ain't going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving

See I remember when we were driving, driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder

And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way

*

Muse:

This song is about important social issues, of course, but I wonder how much, if any, of the attraction for motor racing is a need or desire for escape?  A fast car, or a car of one's own, especially in the U.S., I think, means freedom.  If you have a car, you can go just about anywhere you want, as long as you have money for gas and maintenance.  That's huge for someone who comes from a small town, or who feels a need to get away from troubles at home, or for the adventurer...

Interestingly, escape does not seem to be an obvious factor with race car drivers, at least on the surface.  Many have taken to the sport directly from family members who race -- fathers, uncles, moms, grandparents, siblings.  They don't leave "home," so to speak -- run away to the circus, as it were -- to race, though if they become professionals, they do enter a traveling circus environment in that they must go to where the races are each weekend.  They stay, many times still living in the same hometown where they grew up, often racing for the same teams as their predecessors.  Escape doesn't seem to be in their equation.

Amateurs who race may or may not be using racing as an escape.  Like any past-time, sliding into a race car and giving a race your complete focus may be just the escape they need to recharge their batteries in a healthy way to come back to the "real" world and deal with work responsibilities, family, community, etc.  It is certainly no indictment on the race driver hobbyist who may use his/her hobby to get away from the trials and entanglements of daily life once in awhile.  The same will be said of those who go fishing or swim or exercise or go shopping!  We all need escape to keep our brains healthy and to be able to cope with life and also appreciate whatever it is in our lives we have removed ourselves from for awhile.

Cars are made by people, and they have changed our culture.  People can move farther, faster, relocate, eat their lunches in them, sleep in them, do other things in them......!

Cars play a pivotal role in so many of our lives -- they need not be race cars.  But when you elevate your interest in them to collecting them or racing them or reading about them, etc. what does that mean? 

Is it an accident (no pun intended, again!) that so many of us individually, or we collectively as a culture, have a romance with the automobile?  And if it's a race car, isn't that a natural progression, a heightened aspect of this same desire and fascination? 

What is the role of escape in it all?

What do you think, dear reader?