"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
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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?
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