"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.
Talking to the mirror again, but it's not listening
Cleaning my dirty mind like a toilet, but it won't give in
Drinking spirits in the hopes that I will find myself one
All I can rectify is that the party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
I feel like falling asleep and never waking up
It's not that my glass is empty, but I need another cup
When all of the doors around me just shut one by one by one
I feel like falling asleep, but the party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Begun, begun, begun
Shaky, shaky steps in the middle of the day
A fire in my path and a cool decay
Of limbs and tooth under my skin
Oh, freedom, where do I begin?
I'm changing my inflection and how I say the words
Maybe it will sound like something they've never heard
Oh, death of the party
I picked up the chalice of malice
And drank 'til I was full, I drank 'til I was full
I was thirsty, but I drank 'til I was full
I drank 'til I, 'til I, 'til I was full
There's a fever in my bones that I know so well
I keep my head low, low, low to avoid the swell
But it'll be cold in hell, it'll be cold in hell
Before they put me in that chamber
So I'm cleaning up as fast as I can
I'm cleaning up as fast as I can
'Cause you can't unbreak what you break, you can't unfake the very fake
You cannot fuel without a tank
No, you can't unbreak what you break, what you break
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Cleaning my dirty mind like a toilet, but it won't give in
Drinking spirits in the hopes that I will find myself one
All I can rectify is that the party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
I feel like falling asleep and never waking up
It's not that my glass is empty, but I need another cup
When all of the doors around me just shut one by one by one
I feel like falling asleep, but the party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Begun, begun, begun
Shaky, shaky steps in the middle of the day
A fire in my path and a cool decay
Of limbs and tooth under my skin
Oh, freedom, where do I begin?
I'm changing my inflection and how I say the words
Maybe it will sound like something they've never heard
Oh, death of the party
I picked up the chalice of malice
And drank 'til I was full, I drank 'til I was full
I was thirsty, but I drank 'til I was full
I drank 'til I, 'til I, 'til I was full
There's a fever in my bones that I know so well
I keep my head low, low, low to avoid the swell
But it'll be cold in hell, it'll be cold in hell
Before they put me in that chamber
So I'm cleaning up as fast as I can
I'm cleaning up as fast as I can
'Cause you can't unbreak what you break, you can't unfake the very fake
You cannot fuel without a tank
No, you can't unbreak what you break, what you break
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
Party's just begun
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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"
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.
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.
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.
For the life of me, I can not understand the meaning of this song, but I love it so much. Reading the lyrics, it seems to have a really depressing and sad undertone to it, which is ironic since the beat is so fun and smooth...leave it to Nelly to pull off a stunt like that and make it look good!!