"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.
Thiry thousand auto workers have gone to work to find
That they've been downsized form the assembly to the unemployment line
The employed seeking job security content with what employers give
Thinning out the job market keeps the workers competitive
The upper one percent receive the tax breaks, social program cut's commence
Educational funds take a back seat to America's defense
These education cuts are an investment in the prison industry
An occupational restructuring towards a slave labor economy
The chance of survival on death row disappears,theirright to appeal is deprived
Worker strength and solidarity depletes with union officials bribed
Raising taxes to build sports stadiums while the homeless are ignored
Refusing to supply the health care benefits most people can't afford
The newly founded citizen review boards' members are all police
The gap widens between the cost of living and the inflation increase
Those in power own the media machine it's the vehicle to their views
They bury all of their corruption under fluff reported news
They bombard us with statistics to influence public opinion
The more ridiculous the lie the more people seem to listen
It's the people with no money that are responsible for the rest of us being poor
We'll just eliminate the welfare system to even up the score
Our conditions never imporve no matter how many programs we stop
The money always seems to circulate back to the people at the top
The occasionl whining criticisms keep the public satisfied
The rest are busy escaping reality with drugs the CIA supplied
It's always the most oppressed who easily fall victim to ignorance
Even with all that they've been through they still pledge allegiance
To their country and flag that has caused all of their grievous pain
Patriotism leads to natonalism which in turn proceeds to fascism
Poor and working class people are the tools of sick corporate perseverance
Shit on little puppets exploited in the trials of human dominance
But still the pride goes on blindly and in so-called freedom they gloat
Waving the flag but cursing the politicians they think they elect when they vote
Behind the trails of our peacekeepers lie the dying and the dead
There are millions of starving chilren that are waiting to be fed
Because executive orders demand that economic sanctions are applied
If they'd have bowed down to our pressure, relief may have just arrived
As the worlds only super power we rule without regret
We don't let these children survive and grow up to be a threat
Love of this country is based on nothing but the fear of living somewhere worse
And gratitude shouldn't be the reaction to someone else being slaughtered first
That they've been downsized form the assembly to the unemployment line
The employed seeking job security content with what employers give
Thinning out the job market keeps the workers competitive
The upper one percent receive the tax breaks, social program cut's commence
Educational funds take a back seat to America's defense
These education cuts are an investment in the prison industry
An occupational restructuring towards a slave labor economy
The chance of survival on death row disappears,theirright to appeal is deprived
Worker strength and solidarity depletes with union officials bribed
Raising taxes to build sports stadiums while the homeless are ignored
Refusing to supply the health care benefits most people can't afford
The newly founded citizen review boards' members are all police
The gap widens between the cost of living and the inflation increase
Those in power own the media machine it's the vehicle to their views
They bury all of their corruption under fluff reported news
They bombard us with statistics to influence public opinion
The more ridiculous the lie the more people seem to listen
It's the people with no money that are responsible for the rest of us being poor
We'll just eliminate the welfare system to even up the score
Our conditions never imporve no matter how many programs we stop
The money always seems to circulate back to the people at the top
The occasionl whining criticisms keep the public satisfied
The rest are busy escaping reality with drugs the CIA supplied
It's always the most oppressed who easily fall victim to ignorance
Even with all that they've been through they still pledge allegiance
To their country and flag that has caused all of their grievous pain
Patriotism leads to natonalism which in turn proceeds to fascism
Poor and working class people are the tools of sick corporate perseverance
Shit on little puppets exploited in the trials of human dominance
But still the pride goes on blindly and in so-called freedom they gloat
Waving the flag but cursing the politicians they think they elect when they vote
Behind the trails of our peacekeepers lie the dying and the dead
There are millions of starving chilren that are waiting to be fed
Because executive orders demand that economic sanctions are applied
If they'd have bowed down to our pressure, relief may have just arrived
As the worlds only super power we rule without regret
We don't let these children survive and grow up to be a threat
Love of this country is based on nothing but the fear of living somewhere worse
And gratitude shouldn't be the reaction to someone else being slaughtered first
Lyrics submitted by the4starish
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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.