Going Nowhere Fast

Going Nowhere Fast is the second track on Banjo Story and Fresh Meat + Old Slabs.

Description
This songs has two versions, one on Banjo Story, and another on his gift for his mother, Fresh Meat + Old Slabs. Lyrically, the song is about going nowhere in life and being directionless, fast, like the title says, and the misfortune from it. The lyrics did not change between versions except for the lines "I tangle in the shadow, I stumble in the trees" being switched.

The song originally appeared on Banjo Story, Beck's first ever release. That version is raw and contains only the acoustic guitar. 4 or 5 years later, it was included on Fresh Meat + Old Slabs, a gift for his mother, where harmonica is added, and the guitar is improved. The Fresh Meat version is also slower, with more tempo changes at the end.

Lyrics
All the things they said would happen to you

Don't you know they're all coming true?

Goin' nowhere fast

Nothing's strange as when it seems

You're living out all your worst possible dreams

Goin' nowhere fast

Bad times, worse times, all the times in between

I stumble in my shadow, I tangle in the trees

Goin' nowhere fast

I learned my lesson and I learned it again

I heard what they said, live fast and die stupid

Goin' nowhere fast

My compass is spinning like a gambling wheel

It takes a hideous misfortune for to tell how I feel

Goin' nowhere fast

I threw it all away like shoes into the street

These terrible things will tear me in three

Goin' nowhere fast

I don't care what time will tell

Just tell me if I might as well be halfway to hell

Goin' nowhere fast

I'm sick to my skin with silence and doom

I'll break my back, I'll cry on the moon

Goin' nowhere fast

Goin' nowhere fast

Trivia

 * Beck's mother, Bibbe Hansen, claimed in an interview that this is her favorite song by her son.
 * The lyric "spinning like a gambling wheel" was reused in Derelict.