"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.
(spoken)
Thank you very much! Now we are very, uh, patriotic Canadians and, uh, we'd like to take this moment to um, to do our national anthem that we wrote.
(song)
When I look around me
I can't believe what I see
It seems as if this country
Has lost it's will to live
The economy is lousy
We barely have an army
But we can still stand proudly
'Cause Canada is really big
We're the second
largest country
On this planet earth
And if Russia
keeps on shrinking
Then soon we will be first
(as long as we keep Quebec)
The USA has tanks
And Switzerland has banks
They can keep them fanks(?)
They just don't amount
'Cause when you get down to it
You find out what the truth is
It isn't what you do with it
It's the size that counts
Those people will tell you
That France is pretty large
But you can put fourteen Frances
Into this land of ours
(facing a lot of work.
that'd take a whole lot of work.)
We're larger than Malasia
Almost as big as Asia
We're bigger than Australia
And that's a Continent
So big we sell them butter
To go see one another
Though we often go to other
Countries for vacations
Our mountains are very pointy
Are prairies are not
The rest is kinda bumpy
But man do we have a lot!
(we got a lot of land,
we got a whole lot of land)
So stand up and be proud
And sing out very loud
We stand out from the crowd
'Cause Canada's really big
Thank you very much! Now we are very, uh, patriotic Canadians and, uh, we'd like to take this moment to um, to do our national anthem that we wrote.
(song)
When I look around me
I can't believe what I see
It seems as if this country
Has lost it's will to live
The economy is lousy
We barely have an army
But we can still stand proudly
'Cause Canada is really big
We're the second
largest country
On this planet earth
And if Russia
keeps on shrinking
Then soon we will be first
(as long as we keep Quebec)
The USA has tanks
And Switzerland has banks
They can keep them fanks(?)
They just don't amount
'Cause when you get down to it
You find out what the truth is
It isn't what you do with it
It's the size that counts
Those people will tell you
That France is pretty large
But you can put fourteen Frances
Into this land of ours
(facing a lot of work.
that'd take a whole lot of work.)
We're larger than Malasia
Almost as big as Asia
We're bigger than Australia
And that's a Continent
So big we sell them butter
To go see one another
Though we often go to other
Countries for vacations
Our mountains are very pointy
Are prairies are not
The rest is kinda bumpy
But man do we have a lot!
(we got a lot of land,
we got a whole lot of land)
So stand up and be proud
And sing out very loud
We stand out from the crowd
'Cause Canada's really big
Lyrics submitted by drunkoffnightskies
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
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.
This is actually a song by the arrogant worms, for anyone that is interested in such things.
You are most certainly right about this sir. I've seen many songs that were not written by the Arrogant Worms falsely attributed to them (for instance, "The War of 1812", "The Toronto Song"), but this is the first Worms song that I've seen falsely attributed to someone else.