"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.
Take my hand
Break my stride
Make me smile
For every time I've cried
Hold my heart
In the palm of your hand
Don't listen to it breakin'
Just listen to the band
Do you want to ride in my car?
It's parked out on the street
Or just stay with me a while
Before I fall asleep
Take these tears
Wash your skin
I'm havin' trouble breathin'
Since you walked in
My hands are tied
My head is reelin'
My eyes have cried
A million tears
From wishin' you were here
All my life
I've welcomed pain
I've made up more excuses
To bring it back again
Now I'm here
And I'll drink to the shame
I'll drink to the madness
That made me this way
My hands are tied
My head is reelin'
My eyes have cried
A million tears
From wishin' you were here
Take these tears
Wash your skin
I'm havin' trouble breathin'
Since you walked in
Break my stride
Make me smile
For every time I've cried
Hold my heart
In the palm of your hand
Don't listen to it breakin'
Just listen to the band
Do you want to ride in my car?
It's parked out on the street
Or just stay with me a while
Before I fall asleep
Take these tears
Wash your skin
I'm havin' trouble breathin'
Since you walked in
My hands are tied
My head is reelin'
My eyes have cried
A million tears
From wishin' you were here
All my life
I've welcomed pain
I've made up more excuses
To bring it back again
Now I'm here
And I'll drink to the shame
I'll drink to the madness
That made me this way
My hands are tied
My head is reelin'
My eyes have cried
A million tears
From wishin' you were here
Take these tears
Wash your skin
I'm havin' trouble breathin'
Since you walked in
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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”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
I think this song is about breaking up with a b/f or g/f...and wondering why were u ever in love with them in the first place
i think this song is about breaking up with a b/f or g/f...and wondering why were u ever in love with them in the first place if u knew that one day u would fall out of love
This song, to me, is about a guy who is breaking up with the girl. The girl is trying to stay strong because she knows that there is no way to get him back, no matter how much she cries. But she just wants him to know that she still loves him.
to me this isn't neccessarily about wanting someone you once had, it could be about just wanting someone, and you can't see any chance of being with them. I first heard it on dawsons creek today and i love it already. Love Laura x
"take these tears wash your skin i'm having trouble breathin since you walked in"
The best lyrics I have heard in awhile. I can really feel what she is feeling...
yeah i reckon this song is about somebody who can't have the person they want. it seems also that they're always finding themselves in such situations, setting themselves up for heartbreak... "all my life i've welcomed pain i've made up more excuses to bring it back again "
yeah
I always thought of my friend when I heard this song, I dont necessarily believe its a "love" song, I thought maybe she was singing about haveing her friend there for here to help her ease her pain, thats what I always thought, I think this song is amazing, its so pretty
this is just my point of view but...i think this song is about a girl who is heart broken but she's found someone else...and she really cares for this person but she doesn't want to move on "all my life i've welcomed pain i've made up more excuses to bring it back again" She knows this guy can make her happy but she wants to be heartbroken for a while and just learn to deal. And she really does feel something for this guy but she just feels like she can't give him all he deserves right now and once she lets him go she realized what she lost and she regets it.
just my 2 cents
To ME:
Someone who is looking for someone that can be more of a support person because they have suffered with others before. Dealing with a broken heart is never nice. Or the person that they want. She might have been in a bad relationship and has been wishing and waiting for the right person to come along but her hands where tied....
But then guy comes along, and he is exactly what she's looking for, but she might possibly expect too much from him.
"Take these tears...wash your skin".
My Hands Are Tied, My Head is Reelin, My Eyes Have Cried A million Tears" - Waiting and Wanting this person, but still she is sadened " all my life Ive welcomed Pain" so she stopped putting everything into a relationship, now she's in one and has decided that its all in the past, and is willing to have a go at the relationship again... and theres hope that it wont be like the previous relationship.
She could have even been singing about needing someone to help and I can relate to the song ;) and its so nice.
ive just gone 4 weeks without my bf, cause he was away on work, he comes back for 4 days and he is moving east permanently for his dream job. this song was on repeat while i cried myself til i was sick, "wishing he was here".