"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.
Hope is beauty,
Personified,
At her feet, the world,
Hypnotized.
A million flashes,
A million smiles,
And on the catwalk,
She floats in style
But in this heart of darkness
Our hope lies lost and torn,
All fame like love is fleeting
When there's no hope anymore
Pain and glory,
Hand in hand,
A sacrifice,
The highest price,
Like the poison in her arm
Like a whisper she was gone...
Like when angels fall.
And in this heart of darkness
All hope lies on the floor,
All love like fame is fleeting
When there's no hope anymore
Like the poison in her arm
Like a whisper, she was gone
Like an angel,
And Angels fall
Like the poison in her arm
Like a whisper, she was gone
Like an angel,
And Angels fall
Like the poison in her arm
Like a whisper, she was gone
Like an angel,
And Angels fall
Personified,
At her feet, the world,
Hypnotized.
A million flashes,
A million smiles,
And on the catwalk,
She floats in style
But in this heart of darkness
Our hope lies lost and torn,
All fame like love is fleeting
When there's no hope anymore
Pain and glory,
Hand in hand,
A sacrifice,
The highest price,
Like the poison in her arm
Like a whisper she was gone...
Like when angels fall.
And in this heart of darkness
All hope lies on the floor,
All love like fame is fleeting
When there's no hope anymore
Like the poison in her arm
Like a whisper, she was gone
Like an angel,
And Angels fall
Like the poison in her arm
Like a whisper, she was gone
Like an angel,
And Angels fall
Like the poison in her arm
Like a whisper, she was gone
Like an angel,
And Angels fall
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
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.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
personally i think this song is something about something completely different. if you've seen the music video, i believe this song is part of the soundtrack for a french gothic fantasy crime drama called vidocq. anyway more along that vein of thought, although i've never seen the movie, i think the song is talking about the concept of hope, and sometimes it can hypnotize people (i.e. false hope) similar to the way people are entranced by a model, becoming completely consumed by it. then it says how in the darkest of times, hope is just gone. everything we had been holding onto is wiped away, and we are alone. the verse that repeats, the poison one, i think is giving images of hope leaving, something so glorious like an angel then evaporating into thin air like a whisper would