"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.
Yeah, here comes Amos
Now Amos Moses was a Cajun
He lived by himself in the swamp
He hunted alligator for a living
He'd just knock them in the head with a stump
The Louisiana law gonna get you, Amos
It ain't legal hunting alligator down in the swamp, boy
Now everyone blamed his old man
For making him mean as a snake
When Amos Moses was a boy
His daddy would use him for alligator bait
Tie a rope around his base and throw him in the swamp (hahaha)
Alligator bait in the Louisiana bayou
About forty-five minutes southeast of Thibodaux, Louisiana
Lived a man called Doc Millsap and his pretty wife Hannah
Well, they raised up a son that could eat up his weight in groceries
Named him after a man of the cloth
Called him Amos Moses, yeah (haha)
Now the folks from down south Louisiana
Said Amos was a hell of a man
He could trap the biggest, the meanest alligator
And he'd just use one hand
That's all he got left 'cause an alligator bit it (hahaha)
Left arm gone clear up to the elbow
Well the sheriff caught wind that Amos
Was in the swamp trapping alligator skin
So he snuck in the swamp to gon' and get the boy
But he never come out again
Well, I wonder where the Louisiana sheriff went to
Well, you can sure get lost in the Louisiana bayou
About forty-five minutes southeast of Thibodaux, Louisiana
Lived a cat called Doc Millsap and his pretty wife Hannah
Well, they raised up a son that could eat up his weight in groceries
Named him after a man of the cloth
Called him Amos Moses
Sit down on 'em Amos!
Make it count son
About forty-five minutes southeast of Thibodaux, Louisiana
Lived a man called Doc Millsap and his pretty wife Hannah
Now Amos Moses was a Cajun
He lived by himself in the swamp
He hunted alligator for a living
He'd just knock them in the head with a stump
The Louisiana law gonna get you, Amos
It ain't legal hunting alligator down in the swamp, boy
Now everyone blamed his old man
For making him mean as a snake
When Amos Moses was a boy
His daddy would use him for alligator bait
Tie a rope around his base and throw him in the swamp (hahaha)
Alligator bait in the Louisiana bayou
About forty-five minutes southeast of Thibodaux, Louisiana
Lived a man called Doc Millsap and his pretty wife Hannah
Well, they raised up a son that could eat up his weight in groceries
Named him after a man of the cloth
Called him Amos Moses, yeah (haha)
Now the folks from down south Louisiana
Said Amos was a hell of a man
He could trap the biggest, the meanest alligator
And he'd just use one hand
That's all he got left 'cause an alligator bit it (hahaha)
Left arm gone clear up to the elbow
Well the sheriff caught wind that Amos
Was in the swamp trapping alligator skin
So he snuck in the swamp to gon' and get the boy
But he never come out again
Well, I wonder where the Louisiana sheriff went to
Well, you can sure get lost in the Louisiana bayou
About forty-five minutes southeast of Thibodaux, Louisiana
Lived a cat called Doc Millsap and his pretty wife Hannah
Well, they raised up a son that could eat up his weight in groceries
Named him after a man of the cloth
Called him Amos Moses
Sit down on 'em Amos!
Make it count son
About forty-five minutes southeast of Thibodaux, Louisiana
Lived a man called Doc Millsap and his pretty wife Hannah
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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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental 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.
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.
I suppose if you had to categorize this song as anything, it's country. But it's hard to deny cajun and blues influences.