Fast Car

"Fast Car" is a song by Namie Amuro. It was released as the main promotional track from her 9th album, Past<Future, in November 2009. Amuro finds the song indicative of her sound on Past<Future. The album puts more emphasis on songs with "bright melodies/coolness," instead of the R&B/hip-hop beats of Play and previous albums. Composition The song is an upbeat pop song with a retro, with influences of "cabaret" jazz. The lyrics use a 'fast car' as a metaphor for how the song's protagonist sees her lover. She wants him to "speed it up," and states that Amuro describes the lyrics as being a "playful adult love song," where a woman is teasing a boy by saying that he is hers. Amuro chose the song for her album after listening to a demo from pop music production team Dsign Music. She liked it for its "analog atmosphere," and said it reminded her of the Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette. The song was composed and its English lyrics written by the Dsign Music team, while female Japanese rapper Tiger wrote the song's lyrics, who had previously worked with Amuro in 2003 single "So Crazy." Release The song was first released to radio on November 24, when it was played on the J-Wave "Groove Line" radio show. It was released as a ringtone download on December 2. The song charted on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 in early December, and peaked at #5 on the December 28 chart. The song also charted on the RIAJ Digital Track Chart Top 100 at #24 (though only after the album has been released, due to the song not being released for full chaku-uta (cellphone download) or digital download). Music video