"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.
Once upon a time not long ago
When people wore Adidas and lived life slow
When laws were stern and justice stood
And people was behaving like hip-hop was good
There lived a little boy who was misled
By a little Sha-tan and this is what he said
"Me and you kid we gonna make some cash
Jacking old beats and making the dash"
They jacked the beats, money came with ease
But son, he couldn't stop, it's like he had a disease
He jacked another and another, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder
Set some R&B over the track for "Deep Cover" (187!)
The kid got wild, started acting erratic
He said "Yo, that presidential I got to have it"
With liquor in his belly son, he made up the track
But little did he know that his joints was wack
The shiny A&R said "Great new hit, G!"
"Whenever you need a loop, yo come get me"
The kid got amped and he starts to figure
"I'ma get dough like all of these other niggas!"
So, he's in the studio working round the clock
For pop radio, jacked the beat to 'Planet Rock'
Was out in the street when he met this sister
Who couldn't sing for shh but the mix would assist her
Hooked up the track and in excitation
He decided he'd head for the radio station
But (What?) he was running and he made a left
Was skeezing at top speed and ran into Mos Def
I slowed the young man down and I started: "Yo money
Yo, why you selling lies to our wives and children?"
He ran upstairs up to the top floor
Opened up the door then guess who he saw? (Who?)
Jane the chickenhead radio host
Who be yapping 'bout beef between east and west coast
He said "This one's a bullet, you got to give it run!"
The chicken said "Thanks" and spanked it #1
He went outside, was getting props all over
Then he dipped into his ride, the 4-point Rover
Raced up the block doing 83
Some cats with Hennessey saw him at a R-E-D
He winked his eye like his star status mattered
They rat-a-tat-tatted to make his blood splatter
"You rocking crazy ice and all you do is cling static
And rolling out in Brooklyn late night is problematic"
His eyes was bloody red, he hung on every word they said
They told the kid "Back down, that player shit is dead"
Deep in his heart, he knew he was gone
But he grabbed his .45 and decide to blaze on
With shades on founded had him astounded and
Before long the young man got surrounded
Those grabbed the guns, so goes the glory
And this is the way I got to end this story
He was out chasing cream and the American dream
Trying to pretend the ends justify the means
This ain't funny so don't you dare laugh
It's just what comes to pass when you sell your ass
Life is more than what your hands can grasp
Good night!
When people wore Adidas and lived life slow
When laws were stern and justice stood
And people was behaving like hip-hop was good
There lived a little boy who was misled
By a little Sha-tan and this is what he said
"Me and you kid we gonna make some cash
Jacking old beats and making the dash"
They jacked the beats, money came with ease
But son, he couldn't stop, it's like he had a disease
He jacked another and another, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder
Set some R&B over the track for "Deep Cover" (187!)
The kid got wild, started acting erratic
He said "Yo, that presidential I got to have it"
With liquor in his belly son, he made up the track
But little did he know that his joints was wack
The shiny A&R said "Great new hit, G!"
"Whenever you need a loop, yo come get me"
The kid got amped and he starts to figure
"I'ma get dough like all of these other niggas!"
So, he's in the studio working round the clock
For pop radio, jacked the beat to 'Planet Rock'
Was out in the street when he met this sister
Who couldn't sing for shh but the mix would assist her
Hooked up the track and in excitation
He decided he'd head for the radio station
But (What?) he was running and he made a left
Was skeezing at top speed and ran into Mos Def
I slowed the young man down and I started: "Yo money
Yo, why you selling lies to our wives and children?"
He ran upstairs up to the top floor
Opened up the door then guess who he saw? (Who?)
Jane the chickenhead radio host
Who be yapping 'bout beef between east and west coast
He said "This one's a bullet, you got to give it run!"
The chicken said "Thanks" and spanked it #1
He went outside, was getting props all over
Then he dipped into his ride, the 4-point Rover
Raced up the block doing 83
Some cats with Hennessey saw him at a R-E-D
He winked his eye like his star status mattered
They rat-a-tat-tatted to make his blood splatter
"You rocking crazy ice and all you do is cling static
And rolling out in Brooklyn late night is problematic"
His eyes was bloody red, he hung on every word they said
They told the kid "Back down, that player shit is dead"
Deep in his heart, he knew he was gone
But he grabbed his .45 and decide to blaze on
With shades on founded had him astounded and
Before long the young man got surrounded
Those grabbed the guns, so goes the glory
And this is the way I got to end this story
He was out chasing cream and the American dream
Trying to pretend the ends justify the means
This ain't funny so don't you dare laugh
It's just what comes to pass when you sell your ass
Life is more than what your hands can grasp
Good night!
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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.
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.
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.
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.
tribute to slick rick, not as good as the original but still bad fuckin' ass.