"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.
Mental blindfolds on
Early on the fascination intense
How to discern just where right belongs
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to see
There is no need for you to start revolutions
I don't want you to talk to the minions
Just show me a brand new face
An open mind against a dying race
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to hear
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to feel
Cannot fail in this the era of losers
Burnt the shell of those that once held the torches
Cannot give you the senses anew
Nor will you know innocence again
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to know
In time all your questions will be answered
Not what you hoped for, not what you dreamed
All preconceptions crumble
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to learn
Won't hold up to the standards you keep
Never came from the formative years
Just show me a brand new mind
Keep in what you left behind
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to be
Early on the fascination intense
How to discern just where right belongs
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to see
There is no need for you to start revolutions
I don't want you to talk to the minions
Just show me a brand new face
An open mind against a dying race
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to hear
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to feel
Cannot fail in this the era of losers
Burnt the shell of those that once held the torches
Cannot give you the senses anew
Nor will you know innocence again
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to know
In time all your questions will be answered
Not what you hoped for, not what you dreamed
All preconceptions crumble
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to learn
Won't hold up to the standards you keep
Never came from the formative years
Just show me a brand new mind
Keep in what you left behind
Something has got to give
These things I just don't want you to be
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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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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Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
To me the song seems to be about wanting to start over, rebooting one's mind. "Format C:" is what you do when you want to reformat your computer and the majority of people use "C" to represent the HDD. It maybe a stretch but thats just my interpretation
I think this song is about the upbringing of a child, and trying to gove it good morals even though the reality is far from what it should be, according to the upbringing... Just my thoughs
This song seems to me to be about resisting brainwashing, especially from society. This comes out in the verses
There is no need for you to start revolutions I don't want you to talk to the minions Just show me a brand new face an open mind against a dying race
and
In time all your questions will be answered Not what you hoped for, not what you dreamed All preconceptions crumble
This is particularly supported by the title; see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_formatting
Additionally confirming Ddadutta's comment: Stanne whispers (though loudly) "Format C: for Cortex" around 3:39-3:45.
Currently, this is my second favorite song by DT, "Insanity's Crescendo". I love the piano solo in the middle of the song that builds into the passionate declaration:
"In time all your questions will be answered Not what you hoped for, not what you dreamed"
There is an obvious theme of repression told from the viewpoint of the oppressor. The tone of the song makes me think of it in terms of a science fiction piece.
cortex is a part of the brain. format c maybe means a format that all brains are "formatted" in, we are adapted to this community and we have polished away the things that makes us special and individual .
for me this song is about searching for a person ...a person that hasnt "formatted" his or hers brain, that are unique and individual. someone that differs from the masses. someone to love. somethings got to give...there must be someone. Just show me a brand new face an open mind against a dying race that is about the longin for someone who dares to be open and look away from the normal, accepted way to be.
brilliant song.
reminds me of in flames lyrics format C: for cortex i agree about reformatting humans
Just show me a brand new face an open mind against a dying race
reminds me of in flames style we're a dying race ruining ourselves/theworld and need to restart or format
I agree with soulrapist, could be a child, if the writer has one, if not, it could be anybody he cares about.
I'm quite Sure it's "These things I used to want you to see\hear\feel\know\be"
It can be for a child, or his own new self, or anybody... the most important part is this: " There is no need for you to start revolutions I don't want you to talk to the minions Just show me a brand new face And open mind against a dying race " (imho "And" sounds more logical in the last line than "An") I think the message is clear(one of the few DT song which have any specific message) Eckart Tolle's words come to mind:
" Remember: Just as you cannot fight the darkness, so you cannot fight unconsciousness. If you try to do so, the polar opposites will become strengthened and more deeply entrenched. You will become identified with one of the polarities, you will create an "enemy," and so be drawn into unconsciousness yourself. Raise awareness by disseminating information, or at the most, practice passive resistance. But make sure that you carry no resistance within, no hatred, no negativity. "
I think the song is about watching somebody becoming jaded. This person is being exposed to negative things, and it changes them. In the end of the song, the narrator pleas with this person:
"Just show me a brand new mind Keep in what you left behind
Something has got to give These things I just don't want you to be"
This seems to be asking the subject of the song not to let the negative aspects of life change him for the worse. 'Keep in what you left behind,' makes me think of somebody who gave something to people, whether happiness or hope, or whatever, but is losing it in himself. 'These things I just don't want you to be,' is the narrator telling the subject that he doesn't want him to change into the things that he's seen, heard, learned, etc.