"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.
Find yourself in the gutter in a lonely part of town
Where death waits in the darkness with a weapon to cut some stranger down
Sleeping with an empty bottle, he's a sad and an empty hearted man
All he needs is a job, and a little respect, so he can get out while he can
We always need to hear both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
A neighborhood peace is shattered it's the middle of the night
Young faces hide in the shadows
While they watch their mother and father fight
He says she's been unfaithful, she says her love for him has gone
And the brother shrugs to his sister and says
Looks like it's just us from now on'
We always need to hear both sides of the story
We need to hear both sides of the story
And the lights are all on, the world is watching now
People looking for truth, we must not fail them now
Be sure, before we close our eyes
Don't walk away from here
'Til you hear both sides, no no no
Here we are all gathered in what seems to be the centre of the storm
Neighbours once friendly now stand each side of the line that has been drawn
They've been fighting here for years, but now there's killing on the streets
While small coffins are lined up sadly, now united in defeat
Oh, we always need to hear both sides of the story
When the lights are all on, the world is watching now
People looking for truth, we must not fail them now
Be sure, before we close our eyes
Don't walk away from here
'Til you see both sides, no no no no
White man turns the corner, finds himself within a different world
Ghetto kid grabs his shoulder, throws him up against the wall
He says 'would you respect me if I didn't have this gun
'Cause without it, I don't get it, and that's why I carry one'
We always need to hear We always need to hear both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Oh, both sides of the story
Yes both sides of the story
Oh, both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Both sides, both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Both sides of the story, yeah
Both sides of the story
Both sides, both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Must hear both sides of the story
Where death waits in the darkness with a weapon to cut some stranger down
Sleeping with an empty bottle, he's a sad and an empty hearted man
All he needs is a job, and a little respect, so he can get out while he can
We always need to hear both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
A neighborhood peace is shattered it's the middle of the night
Young faces hide in the shadows
While they watch their mother and father fight
He says she's been unfaithful, she says her love for him has gone
And the brother shrugs to his sister and says
Looks like it's just us from now on'
We always need to hear both sides of the story
We need to hear both sides of the story
And the lights are all on, the world is watching now
People looking for truth, we must not fail them now
Be sure, before we close our eyes
Don't walk away from here
'Til you hear both sides, no no no
Here we are all gathered in what seems to be the centre of the storm
Neighbours once friendly now stand each side of the line that has been drawn
They've been fighting here for years, but now there's killing on the streets
While small coffins are lined up sadly, now united in defeat
Oh, we always need to hear both sides of the story
When the lights are all on, the world is watching now
People looking for truth, we must not fail them now
Be sure, before we close our eyes
Don't walk away from here
'Til you see both sides, no no no no
White man turns the corner, finds himself within a different world
Ghetto kid grabs his shoulder, throws him up against the wall
He says 'would you respect me if I didn't have this gun
'Cause without it, I don't get it, and that's why I carry one'
We always need to hear We always need to hear both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Oh, both sides of the story
Yes both sides of the story
Oh, both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Both sides, both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Both sides of the story, yeah
Both sides of the story
Both sides, both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Both sides of the story
Must hear both sides of the story
Lyrics submitted by Boonechic_21
Both Sides Of The Story Lyrics as written by Phillip David Charles Collins
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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No Surprises
Radiohead
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Here we are all gathered in what seems to be the centre of the storm Neighbours once friendly now stand each side of the line that has been drawn They've been fighting here for years, but now there's killing on the streets While small coffins are lined up sadly, now united in defeat
These lyrics remind me of the Rwanda Genocide. The Hutu and Tutsi lived with each other but underneath there were inner issues from past history. They believed there were different traits between the two groups but since they lived with each other and intermarried those physical traits were seemingly hard to tell. Any rate the hutu were a majority in the population and the Tutsi were a minority in population numbers. In the past the Tutsi were the aristocratic people while the hutu were basically slaves. In current time after the assassination of the hutu government leader, the hutu called for a mass killing of the Tutsi because they believed that they would enslave them. That's why those lyrics match so well to me.