"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.
Bust it
This here's a jam for all the fellas
Tryin' to do what those ladies tell us
Get shot down 'cause ya overzealous
Play hard to get, females get jealous
Okay smarty, go to a party
Girls are scantily clad and showin' body
A chick walks by, you wish you could sex her
But you're standin' on the wall like you was Poindexter
Next day's function, high class luncheon
Food is served and you're stone-cold munchin'
Music comes on people start to dance
But then you ate so much, you nearly split your pants
A girl starts walkin', guys start gawkin'
Sits down next to you and starts talkin'
Says she wanna dance, 'cause she likes to groove
So come on fatso and just bust a move
Uh, huh, yeah, huh
Uh, huh, yeah, huh (just bust a move)
Huh, hey, huh, yeah
Uh, huh, yeah, huh, huh
You're on a mission and you're wishin'
Someone could cure your lonely condition
Lookin' for love in all the wrong places
No fine girls just ugly faces
From frustration, first inclination
Is to become a monk and leave the situation
But every dark tunnel has a light of hope
So don't hang yourself with a celibate rope (uh)
New movie's showin', so you're goin'
Could care less about the five you're blowin' (uh)
Theater gets dark just to start the show
Then ya spot a fine woman sittin' in your row (uh)
She's dressed in yellow
She says, "Hello, come sit next to me you fine fellow" (uh)
You run over there without a second to lose
And what comes next, hey, bust a move
If you want it
You got it
If you want it
Baby, you got it (just bust a move)
If you want it
You got it, uh
If you want it
Baby, you got it, mh
In the city, ladies look pretty
Guys tell jokes so they can seem witty
Tell a funny joke just to get some play
Then you try to make a move and she says, "No way"
Girls are fakin', goodness sakin'
They want a man who brings home the bacon
Got no money and you got no car
Then you got no women and there you are (uh)
Some girls are sadistic, materialistic (yeah)
Lookin' for a man makes them opportunistic (uh)
They're lyin' on a beach, perpetratin' a tan (yeah)
So that a brother with money can be their man (huh)
So on the beach you're strollin', real high rollin' (yeah)
Everything you have is yours and not stolen (uh)
A girl runs up with somethin' to prove
So don't just stand there, bust a move
If you want it
You got it, uh
You want it
Baby, you got it (just bust a move)
And, you want it, ooh
You got it, uh
You want it
Baby, you got it (break it down for me fellas)
Ah-oh
Ah-oh
Ah-oh
Ah-oh
Huh, hey, yeah, oh
Ooh, ooh, hey, yeah
Uh, ooh, hey, yeah
Hey, huh, uh, uh, hey
Your best friend Harry has a brother Larry
In five days from now he's gonna marry
He's hopin' you can make it there if you can
'Cause in the ceremony you'll be the best man
You say, "Neat-o," check your libido
And roll to the church in your new tuxedo
The bride walks down just to start the wedding
And there's one more girl you won't be gettin'
So you start thinkin', then you start blinkin'
A bridesmaid looks and thinks that you're winkin'
She thinks your kinda cute, so she winks back
And now your feelin' really firm 'cause the girl is stacked
Reception's jumpin', bass is pumpin'
Look at the girl and your heart starts thumpin'
Says she wants to dance to a different groove
Now you know what to do G, bust a move
If you want it
You got it, uh
You want it
Baby, you got it (just bust a move)
Uh, you want it, ooh
You got it, uh
You want it
Baby, you got it (move it, boy)
Uh, huh, huh, hey
Uh, huh, yeah, huh
Huh, hey, huh, yeah
Uh, huh, hey, hey, yeah
This here's a jam for all the fellas
Tryin' to do what those ladies tell us
Get shot down 'cause ya overzealous
Play hard to get, females get jealous
Okay smarty, go to a party
Girls are scantily clad and showin' body
A chick walks by, you wish you could sex her
But you're standin' on the wall like you was Poindexter
Next day's function, high class luncheon
Food is served and you're stone-cold munchin'
Music comes on people start to dance
But then you ate so much, you nearly split your pants
A girl starts walkin', guys start gawkin'
Sits down next to you and starts talkin'
Says she wanna dance, 'cause she likes to groove
So come on fatso and just bust a move
Uh, huh, yeah, huh
Uh, huh, yeah, huh (just bust a move)
Huh, hey, huh, yeah
Uh, huh, yeah, huh, huh
You're on a mission and you're wishin'
Someone could cure your lonely condition
Lookin' for love in all the wrong places
No fine girls just ugly faces
From frustration, first inclination
Is to become a monk and leave the situation
But every dark tunnel has a light of hope
So don't hang yourself with a celibate rope (uh)
New movie's showin', so you're goin'
Could care less about the five you're blowin' (uh)
Theater gets dark just to start the show
Then ya spot a fine woman sittin' in your row (uh)
She's dressed in yellow
She says, "Hello, come sit next to me you fine fellow" (uh)
You run over there without a second to lose
And what comes next, hey, bust a move
If you want it
You got it
If you want it
Baby, you got it (just bust a move)
If you want it
You got it, uh
If you want it
Baby, you got it, mh
In the city, ladies look pretty
Guys tell jokes so they can seem witty
Tell a funny joke just to get some play
Then you try to make a move and she says, "No way"
Girls are fakin', goodness sakin'
They want a man who brings home the bacon
Got no money and you got no car
Then you got no women and there you are (uh)
Some girls are sadistic, materialistic (yeah)
Lookin' for a man makes them opportunistic (uh)
They're lyin' on a beach, perpetratin' a tan (yeah)
So that a brother with money can be their man (huh)
So on the beach you're strollin', real high rollin' (yeah)
Everything you have is yours and not stolen (uh)
A girl runs up with somethin' to prove
So don't just stand there, bust a move
If you want it
You got it, uh
You want it
Baby, you got it (just bust a move)
And, you want it, ooh
You got it, uh
You want it
Baby, you got it (break it down for me fellas)
Ah-oh
Ah-oh
Ah-oh
Ah-oh
Huh, hey, yeah, oh
Ooh, ooh, hey, yeah
Uh, ooh, hey, yeah
Hey, huh, uh, uh, hey
Your best friend Harry has a brother Larry
In five days from now he's gonna marry
He's hopin' you can make it there if you can
'Cause in the ceremony you'll be the best man
You say, "Neat-o," check your libido
And roll to the church in your new tuxedo
The bride walks down just to start the wedding
And there's one more girl you won't be gettin'
So you start thinkin', then you start blinkin'
A bridesmaid looks and thinks that you're winkin'
She thinks your kinda cute, so she winks back
And now your feelin' really firm 'cause the girl is stacked
Reception's jumpin', bass is pumpin'
Look at the girl and your heart starts thumpin'
Says she wants to dance to a different groove
Now you know what to do G, bust a move
If you want it
You got it, uh
You want it
Baby, you got it (just bust a move)
Uh, you want it, ooh
You got it, uh
You want it
Baby, you got it (move it, boy)
Uh, huh, huh, hey
Uh, huh, yeah, huh
Huh, hey, huh, yeah
Uh, huh, hey, hey, yeah
Lyrics submitted by Boonechic_21
Bust a Move Lyrics as written by Luther Rabb Jim Walters
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.
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.
The plot is simple. A young Algerian, Meursault, afflicted with a sort of aimless inertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhat inexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, his crime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he has committed as it is his deficient character. The trial's proceedings are absurd, a parsing of incidental trivialities--that Meursault, for instance, seemed unmoved by his own mother's death and then attended a comic movie the evening after her funeral are two ostensibly damning facts--so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous and inevitable.
Or am I thinking of "The Stranger" by Albert Camus?
I have trouble seeing this song as truly existential, the man clearly is concerned with what people think of him...nevertheless your post still made me laugh!