"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.
Oh, ooh, oh
You liked me 'til you heard my shit on the radio
Well I hate to say but pop ain't going solo
You liked me 'til you heard my shit on the radio
But now I'm just too mainstream for you, oh no
You liked me 'til you seen me on your TV
Well if you're so low below then why you watching?
You say good things come to those who wait
I've been waiting a long time for it
I remember the days when I was so eager to satisfy you
And be less then I was just to prove I could walk beside you
Now that I've flown away I see you've chosen to stay behind me
And still you curse the day I decided to stay true to myself
You say your quest is to bring it higher
Well, I never seen change without a fire
But from your mouth I have seen a lot of burning
But underneath I think it's a lot of yearning
Your face, the colors change from green to yellow
To the point where you can't even say hello
You tell me you'd kill me if I ever snob you out
Like that's what you'd expect from me, like that's what I'm about
I remember the days when I was so eager to satisfy you
And be less then I was just to prove I could walk beside you
Now that I've flown away I see you've chosen to stay behind me
And still you curse the day I decided to stay true to myself
It's so much easier to stay down there guaranteeing you're cool
Than to sit up here exposing myself trying to break through
Than to burn in the spotlight, open fire, turn in the spitfire, open fire
Scream without making a sound, open fire, be up here without looking down, open fire
Oh, afraid of heights
I remember the days when I was so eager to satisfy you
And be less then I was just to prove I could walk beside you
Now that I've flown away I see you've chosen to stay behind me
And now you curse the day I decided to stay true to
Myself, myself
Myself, myself
Myself (now you're feeling me, and now you're feeling me)
Myself (and now you're feeling me, and now you're feeling me now)
Myself (and now you're feeling me, are you feeling me now?)
Myself (why you gotta be so, so mean?)
Why ya hurt me, hurt me, hurt me (myself)
Hurt me, hurt me, hurt me, hurt me so? (myself)
Leave me down, down, down, down low (myself)
Down, da down, down, da down, da down, down, down (myself)
Now, I'm comin' at you on the radio tonight (myself)
'Cause I like my shit played loud and clear over the radio (myself)
Shit on the radio (myself)
Shit on the radio (myself)
Shit on the radio (myself)
Shit on the radio (myself)
Shit on the radio (myself)
You liked me 'til you heard my shit on the radio
Well I hate to say but pop ain't going solo
You liked me 'til you heard my shit on the radio
But now I'm just too mainstream for you, oh no
You liked me 'til you seen me on your TV
Well if you're so low below then why you watching?
You say good things come to those who wait
I've been waiting a long time for it
I remember the days when I was so eager to satisfy you
And be less then I was just to prove I could walk beside you
Now that I've flown away I see you've chosen to stay behind me
And still you curse the day I decided to stay true to myself
You say your quest is to bring it higher
Well, I never seen change without a fire
But from your mouth I have seen a lot of burning
But underneath I think it's a lot of yearning
Your face, the colors change from green to yellow
To the point where you can't even say hello
You tell me you'd kill me if I ever snob you out
Like that's what you'd expect from me, like that's what I'm about
I remember the days when I was so eager to satisfy you
And be less then I was just to prove I could walk beside you
Now that I've flown away I see you've chosen to stay behind me
And still you curse the day I decided to stay true to myself
It's so much easier to stay down there guaranteeing you're cool
Than to sit up here exposing myself trying to break through
Than to burn in the spotlight, open fire, turn in the spitfire, open fire
Scream without making a sound, open fire, be up here without looking down, open fire
Oh, afraid of heights
I remember the days when I was so eager to satisfy you
And be less then I was just to prove I could walk beside you
Now that I've flown away I see you've chosen to stay behind me
And now you curse the day I decided to stay true to
Myself, myself
Myself, myself
Myself (now you're feeling me, and now you're feeling me)
Myself (and now you're feeling me, and now you're feeling me now)
Myself (and now you're feeling me, are you feeling me now?)
Myself (why you gotta be so, so mean?)
Why ya hurt me, hurt me, hurt me (myself)
Hurt me, hurt me, hurt me, hurt me so? (myself)
Leave me down, down, down, down low (myself)
Down, da down, down, da down, da down, down, down (myself)
Now, I'm comin' at you on the radio tonight (myself)
'Cause I like my shit played loud and clear over the radio (myself)
Shit on the radio (myself)
Shit on the radio (myself)
Shit on the radio (myself)
Shit on the radio (myself)
Shit on the radio (myself)
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.
i think this is for her fans who are bieng judgemental and saying shes pop cause shes well known and not underground ....and shes saying that shes worked hard and waited long enough ....and i think shes saying youll never grow as a person if you dont take risks..