"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.
Ow
Oh yeah
If you want to put a message
Through my heart
Shoot the arrow in the morning hey
I'm gonna rise and shine
And wake you up
And move you without warning
Call my name
I understand the reason for desire
The band I give to you will be the ring of fire
Something in your kiss that lasts forever
Burning in the heat for you
Love you 'round the clock
You get the best of what I got
Oh yeah
Gonna work all day to buy you pretty things
Cause you're such a pretty girl
You can work me overtime knock me out
Got my senses in a whirl
Like a locomotive burning down the track
You're my destination
One on one and kiss for kiss
You're my fascination
Something in your touch that holds the promise hey
You've got me feeling all shook up
Love you 'round the clock
You get the best of what I got
Oh yeah
I put my key inside your door
And it feels so good
When I come home at night
We're rocking the neighborhood
Rocking the neighborhood
Something that you read about in headlines
I feel the heat for you
I wanna rock you 'round the clock
You get the best
You get the best of what I got
Oh yeah
You get the best of what I got
Ow
I want to love you 'round the clock
(Best of what I got)
Oh
You get the best of what I got
(Best of what I got)
Ow
That's right
I want to love you 'round the clock
(Best of what I got)
Ow
Ooh yeah
(Best of what I got)
That's right
You get the best of what I got
(Best of what I got)
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
(Best of what I got)
Oh yeah
If you want to put a message
Through my heart
Shoot the arrow in the morning hey
I'm gonna rise and shine
And wake you up
And move you without warning
Call my name
I understand the reason for desire
The band I give to you will be the ring of fire
Something in your kiss that lasts forever
Burning in the heat for you
Love you 'round the clock
You get the best of what I got
Oh yeah
Gonna work all day to buy you pretty things
Cause you're such a pretty girl
You can work me overtime knock me out
Got my senses in a whirl
Like a locomotive burning down the track
You're my destination
One on one and kiss for kiss
You're my fascination
Something in your touch that holds the promise hey
You've got me feeling all shook up
Love you 'round the clock
You get the best of what I got
Oh yeah
I put my key inside your door
And it feels so good
When I come home at night
We're rocking the neighborhood
Rocking the neighborhood
Something that you read about in headlines
I feel the heat for you
I wanna rock you 'round the clock
You get the best
You get the best of what I got
Oh yeah
You get the best of what I got
Ow
I want to love you 'round the clock
(Best of what I got)
Oh
You get the best of what I got
(Best of what I got)
Ow
That's right
I want to love you 'round the clock
(Best of what I got)
Ow
Ooh yeah
(Best of what I got)
That's right
You get the best of what I got
(Best of what I got)
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
(Best of what I got)
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
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.
Cool song that plays at the end of the Sylvester Stallone movie Tango & Cash