"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.
On a hillside in Hazzard
Sets a new double-wide
God's little acre
Your paradise
A poor boy found heaven
With a good country girl
He had all he wanted
She was his whole world
But working the coal mine
Can wear a man down
He started spending
Too much time in town
He found temptation
Fell under it's spell
And hillbilly Heaven
Went to honky tonk Hell
From hillbilly Heaven
To honky tonk Hell
From a warm home fire burning
To a cold, cheap motel
And an angel is crying
'Cause her good man fell
From hillbilly Heaven
To honky tonk Hell
Somewhere in Hazzard
On a dark, dead-end street
Where whiskey and heartache
And old memories meet
He looks for salvation
In a bottle each night
And just goes on livin'
Though he's lost his life
Now there's a job in the coal mine
That needs to be filled
And a heartache in Hazzard
That won't ever heal
He had it all
Now it's all for sale
And hillbilly Heaven's
Gone to honky tonk Hell
From hillbilly Heaven
To honky tonk Hell
From a warm home fire burning
To a cold, cheap motel
And an angel is crying
'Cause her good man fell
From hillbilly Heaven
To honky tonk Hell
He's gone from hillbilly Heaven
To honky tonk Hell
Sets a new double-wide
God's little acre
Your paradise
A poor boy found heaven
With a good country girl
He had all he wanted
She was his whole world
But working the coal mine
Can wear a man down
He started spending
Too much time in town
He found temptation
Fell under it's spell
And hillbilly Heaven
Went to honky tonk Hell
From hillbilly Heaven
To honky tonk Hell
From a warm home fire burning
To a cold, cheap motel
And an angel is crying
'Cause her good man fell
From hillbilly Heaven
To honky tonk Hell
Somewhere in Hazzard
On a dark, dead-end street
Where whiskey and heartache
And old memories meet
He looks for salvation
In a bottle each night
And just goes on livin'
Though he's lost his life
Now there's a job in the coal mine
That needs to be filled
And a heartache in Hazzard
That won't ever heal
He had it all
Now it's all for sale
And hillbilly Heaven's
Gone to honky tonk Hell
From hillbilly Heaven
To honky tonk Hell
From a warm home fire burning
To a cold, cheap motel
And an angel is crying
'Cause her good man fell
From hillbilly Heaven
To honky tonk Hell
He's gone from hillbilly Heaven
To honky tonk Hell
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
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.
"Where whiskey and heartache and old memories meet". So many people have mention these things in one line, but it still strucks me.
I read on a lyrics site that Kenny Chesney wasn't the original writer of this song, and when Chesney/Lawrence/Jones collaborated on this they must have known the outreach of listeners would triple just by doing that. Whether the trio of voices was purposeful, or just a simple collaboration, each verse sang by a different artist seems to tell a part of the story from each singer's point of view, it was chosen so carefully. As you can tell, this isn't just another tear-jerker to me like it may be for some, I'm from Hazard, Kentucky, and I've worked inside the coal mines in Hazard Kentucky. I know the spelling is different, and more than likely a different place was meant, but I've seen this very thing happen to people from all walks of life, young and old. When I'm coming home, I drive by nice homes, but many are broken. As you can notice, I'm not giving an interpretation of this song, it explains itself. "Tugit", if you don't mind, i'd just like to say thanks for the comment on this, because what struck you about the song really knocked me for a home run. For whatever reason, people choose this path of life to lead, and no matter what people say, you can't tell who it's going to happen to. Where I've been involved with mining before, I guess I can "finish the painting" and pick up where this song leaves off, whether I want to or not, because when you've been to your first funeral over this kind of stuff you know it's real.