"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Every day they write the headlines
Talking diamonds talking steel
Don't talk things that, folk don't know
Talk about money and stuff that's real
Back here in beanoland the bubble is bursting
All things get busted, some things get builded
Old ladies write letters old men dream memories
Back here in beanoland all things are real
Everyday my neighbour drives
For the company from the south
Tells the stories of how things are there
Talks about their life talks about ours
Back here in beanoland the bubble is bursting
All things get busted, some things get builded
Old ladies write letters old men dream memories
Back here in beanoland all things are real
I've trying to find a reason
I've been trying to leave this house
Everyday they cross that great bridge
And watch those trains pull in and out
Those trains, those trains, those trains
Yeah, those trains, those trains
Back here in beanoland the bubble is bursting
All things get busted, some things get builded
Old ladies write letters old men dream memories
Back here in beanoland all things are real
All things are real
Talking diamonds talking steel
Don't talk things that, folk don't know
Talk about money and stuff that's real
Back here in beanoland the bubble is bursting
All things get busted, some things get builded
Old ladies write letters old men dream memories
Back here in beanoland all things are real
Everyday my neighbour drives
For the company from the south
Tells the stories of how things are there
Talks about their life talks about ours
Back here in beanoland the bubble is bursting
All things get busted, some things get builded
Old ladies write letters old men dream memories
Back here in beanoland all things are real
I've trying to find a reason
I've been trying to leave this house
Everyday they cross that great bridge
And watch those trains pull in and out
Those trains, those trains, those trains
Yeah, those trains, those trains
Back here in beanoland the bubble is bursting
All things get busted, some things get builded
Old ladies write letters old men dream memories
Back here in beanoland all things are real
All things are real
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Think Ricky wrote this about his hometown of Dundee. Dundee is where the comic "The Beano" was produced hence the Beanoland part. The line "Everyday they cross that great bridge, I watch those trains pull in and out" is about the Tay Bridge which takes trains across the Firth of Tay into Fife.