"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.
some day I'll be a rich ass nigga
but right now Im just a broke muthafucka
wanna kill me go ahead pull the trigger
dont gotta aim cuz my head's gettin bigger
when everyone comes beatin down my door
I'm just watchin out the window
you think Im just a punk let me get to my trunk
thats as far as that shit goes
we ride the train along the way
we ride the pain
such a long ride to replace so hard to find
Im a long way from home
and Im so far gone
come again, come again
what are you sayin now?
its just the same thing I heard for years now
go figure be the one thats left here
talkin shit behind my back
to everybodys ear
used to be a game now everything changed
Im just the same old busta
a little more stupid, but Im crazy insane
Im just the same old hustla
we ride the train along the way
we ride the pain
such a long ride to replace so hard to find
Im a long way from home
and Im so far gone
I know that you wanna see me cryin
and you know I dont wanna hear ya denyin
but ya satisfaction lies, and your illusions
but your illusions are yours and not mine
some day I'll be a rich ass nigga
but right now Im just a broke muthafucka
wanna kill me go ahead pull the trigger
dont gotta aim cuz my head's gettin bigger
when everyone comes beatin down my door
I'm just watchin out the window
I'll get a gun, I'll shoot every fuckin body
thats as far as that shit goes
we ride the train along the way
we ride the pain
such a long ride to replace so hard to find
Im a long way from home
and Im so far gone
but right now Im just a broke muthafucka
wanna kill me go ahead pull the trigger
dont gotta aim cuz my head's gettin bigger
when everyone comes beatin down my door
I'm just watchin out the window
you think Im just a punk let me get to my trunk
thats as far as that shit goes
we ride the train along the way
we ride the pain
such a long ride to replace so hard to find
Im a long way from home
and Im so far gone
come again, come again
what are you sayin now?
its just the same thing I heard for years now
go figure be the one thats left here
talkin shit behind my back
to everybodys ear
used to be a game now everything changed
Im just the same old busta
a little more stupid, but Im crazy insane
Im just the same old hustla
we ride the train along the way
we ride the pain
such a long ride to replace so hard to find
Im a long way from home
and Im so far gone
I know that you wanna see me cryin
and you know I dont wanna hear ya denyin
but ya satisfaction lies, and your illusions
but your illusions are yours and not mine
some day I'll be a rich ass nigga
but right now Im just a broke muthafucka
wanna kill me go ahead pull the trigger
dont gotta aim cuz my head's gettin bigger
when everyone comes beatin down my door
I'm just watchin out the window
I'll get a gun, I'll shoot every fuckin body
thats as far as that shit goes
we ride the train along the way
we ride the pain
such a long ride to replace so hard to find
Im a long way from home
and Im so far gone
Lyrics submitted by Avalon
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Fast Car
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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”
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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.
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Great version of a great song,
Magical
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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.