"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.
LL Cool J is hard as hell
Battle anybody I don't care who you tell
I excel, they all fail
Gonna crack shells, Double-L must rock the bells
You've been waitin' and debatin' for oh so long
Just starvin' like Marvin for a Cool J Song
If you cried and thought I died, you definitely was wrong
It took a thought, plus I brought Cut Creator along
Thinking of E-Love down with the Cool J Force
Specializin' in the rhymin' for the record of course
I'm a tower full of power with rain and hail
Cut Creator scratch the record with his fingernail
Rock the bells
The king of crowd rockers finally is back
My voice is your choice as the hottest wax
True as a wizard, just a blizzard, I ain't taken no crap
I'm rhymin' and designin' with your girl in my lap
The bass is kickin' always stickin' 'cause you like it that way
You think it's hotter plus it's def 'cause it's by Cool J
Cut Creator on the fader, my right-hand man
We rock the bells so very well 'cause that's the name of this jam
Rock the bells
Some girls will like this jam and some girls won't
'Cause I make a lot of money and your boyfriend don't
LL, go to hell, gonna rock the bells
All you washed up rappers wanna do this well
Rock the bells
Now I'm world-wide known, whether you like it or not
My one man band is Cut Creator a.k.a. Philpot
He'll never skip it, only rip it when he's on the fader
What's my DJ's name, (Cut Creator!)
Now you know the episode who's on the wheels
He'll drive the cross fader like a cut mobile
So precise with a slice that you know he's greater
What's my DJ's name, (Cut Creator!)
What you know, what do you know, Earl roles the weed
I go to the store and get Old Gold
So all you crappy lookin' nappy headed girls get back
'Cause there's a ten to one chance that you might get smacked
Rock the bells
The bells are circulatin' like the blood in your veins
Why are girlies on the tip, (LL's your name)
Cut Creator's (good), Cool J. Is (good-good)
You bring the Woodpecker, I'll bring the wood
The bells are wippin' and rippin' at your body and soul
Why do you like Cool J (it ain't Rock 'N' Roll)
'Cause it ain't the glory days with Bruce Springsteen
I'm not a virgin so I know I'll make Madonna scream
You hated Michael and Prince all the way, ever sense
If their beats were made of meat, then they would have to be mince
Rock the bells
So listen to the rhyme the lines, I rhyme on time
He'll cut the record in a second, make your DJ Look blind
So all you Jheri Curl suckers wearin' high-heel boots
Like ballerinas, what I mean is you're a fruit-loop troop
All you gonna-be, wanna-be, when will you learn
Wanna be like Cool J you gotta wait your turn
Some suckers don't like me, but I'm not concerned
Six G's for twenty minutes is the pay I earn
I'm growin' and glowin' like a forest blaze
Do you like Michael Jackson? (We like Cool J!)
That's right, I'm on the mic with the help of the bells
And no delayin' what I'm sayin' as I'm rockin' you well
Rock the bells
Battle anybody I don't care who you tell
I excel, they all fail
Gonna crack shells, Double-L must rock the bells
You've been waitin' and debatin' for oh so long
Just starvin' like Marvin for a Cool J Song
If you cried and thought I died, you definitely was wrong
It took a thought, plus I brought Cut Creator along
Thinking of E-Love down with the Cool J Force
Specializin' in the rhymin' for the record of course
I'm a tower full of power with rain and hail
Cut Creator scratch the record with his fingernail
Rock the bells
The king of crowd rockers finally is back
My voice is your choice as the hottest wax
True as a wizard, just a blizzard, I ain't taken no crap
I'm rhymin' and designin' with your girl in my lap
The bass is kickin' always stickin' 'cause you like it that way
You think it's hotter plus it's def 'cause it's by Cool J
Cut Creator on the fader, my right-hand man
We rock the bells so very well 'cause that's the name of this jam
Rock the bells
Some girls will like this jam and some girls won't
'Cause I make a lot of money and your boyfriend don't
LL, go to hell, gonna rock the bells
All you washed up rappers wanna do this well
Rock the bells
Now I'm world-wide known, whether you like it or not
My one man band is Cut Creator a.k.a. Philpot
He'll never skip it, only rip it when he's on the fader
What's my DJ's name, (Cut Creator!)
Now you know the episode who's on the wheels
He'll drive the cross fader like a cut mobile
So precise with a slice that you know he's greater
What's my DJ's name, (Cut Creator!)
What you know, what do you know, Earl roles the weed
I go to the store and get Old Gold
So all you crappy lookin' nappy headed girls get back
'Cause there's a ten to one chance that you might get smacked
Rock the bells
The bells are circulatin' like the blood in your veins
Why are girlies on the tip, (LL's your name)
Cut Creator's (good), Cool J. Is (good-good)
You bring the Woodpecker, I'll bring the wood
The bells are wippin' and rippin' at your body and soul
Why do you like Cool J (it ain't Rock 'N' Roll)
'Cause it ain't the glory days with Bruce Springsteen
I'm not a virgin so I know I'll make Madonna scream
You hated Michael and Prince all the way, ever sense
If their beats were made of meat, then they would have to be mince
Rock the bells
So listen to the rhyme the lines, I rhyme on time
He'll cut the record in a second, make your DJ Look blind
So all you Jheri Curl suckers wearin' high-heel boots
Like ballerinas, what I mean is you're a fruit-loop troop
All you gonna-be, wanna-be, when will you learn
Wanna be like Cool J you gotta wait your turn
Some suckers don't like me, but I'm not concerned
Six G's for twenty minutes is the pay I earn
I'm growin' and glowin' like a forest blaze
Do you like Michael Jackson? (We like Cool J!)
That's right, I'm on the mic with the help of the bells
And no delayin' what I'm sayin' as I'm rockin' you well
Rock the bells
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
These are not the lyrics to the "Rock the Bells" I know and love as LL's first single. The song begins;
Been waitin' and debatin' for oh so long Just starvin' like Marvin' for a Cool J song
Maybe these are from "Rock the Bells 2000" or something.
The one released in 1985 or so had awesome lyrics, particularly good for the then-17 year-old LL:
'Cuz these ain't the Glory Days of Bruce Springsteen I'm not a virgin so I know I'll make Madonna scream You hated Michael and Prince all the way ever since And if these beats were made of meat then they would have to be minced... Rock the Bells!
Agreed