"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.
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on and you're not coming back
Can't you come back?
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on and you're not coming back
Bleaching your teeth, smiling flash, talking trash, under your breath
Bleaching your teeth, smiling flash, talking trash, under your breath
Bleaching your teeth, smiling flash, talking trash, under your breath
Bleaching your teeth, smiling flash, talking trash, under my window
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone
Park that car, drop that phone (dream about me)
Park that car, drop that phone
Park that car, drop that phone (dream about me)
Park that car, drop that phone
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on and you're not coming back
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on and you're not coming back
Can't you come back?
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on and you're not coming back
Bleaching your teeth, smiling flash, talking trash, under your breath
Bleaching your teeth, smiling flash, talking trash, under your breath
Bleaching your teeth, smiling flash, talking trash, under your breath
Bleaching your teeth, smiling flash, talking trash, under my window
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me
Park that car, drop that phone
Park that car, drop that phone (dream about me)
Park that car, drop that phone
Park that car, drop that phone (dream about me)
Park that car, drop that phone
Used to be one of the rotten ones and I liked you for that
Now you're all gone, got your make-up on and you're not coming back
Lyrics submitted by fallacies, edited by krosm, sarahnorthway
Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl Lyrics as written by Charles Ivan Spearin Brendan Canning
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Peermusic Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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Plastic Bag
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“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 was listening to Anthems... this evening and a new perspective hit me. Not only is she talking about adolescence in general, but about her's in particular. The older, "grown-up" version is looking back lovingly at the person she was growing up, the person that turned into what she is now. She uses the second-person pronouns to refer to the young girl to not only separate her from herself, but to allow the audience to more easily identify with her.
Brilliant.
yeah, that's what I always thought. It's like, she's looking at herself and realizes she loed who she was when she was a kid, and didn't care about rules and being good or other people, but now she is a teenager who wears makeup and brightens her teeth. she wishes she was young again and carefree, but she can't stop it. butthen i can never understand the part where she's like,<br /> "park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me..." <br /> so, i think it is possible that is froma younger sister to an older one, wishing her role model/etc. was nicer and more of kid again. everything else still applies, except in the birdge, she is trying to gether sister to come home. <br /> <br /> that is my take on everything...
Given your interpretation, she's just trying to get herself into a nostalgic mood. Take a break from being an adult (park that car, drop that phone) and go back to what she'd do as a kid (sleep on the floor) and remember (dream about) how good it used to be.
The younger self looks upon the older self,<br /> watching the older self, in turn, "dream" about the old times of being the young self.<br /> <br /> Though the young self was probably boisterous, "rotten" and fun, the older self is more mature and cannot return to that state of being.<br /> <br /> One of the tragedies of aging, one becomes a different person with time.<br /> <br /> (I will interpret "under my window" as the bedroom window of the girl, so the older girl still sleeps under the same window she slept under as a child. This is reasonable because rooms tend to hold a lot of nostalgia and remind people about the things that happened in the room.)
The younger self looks upon the older self,<br /> watching the older self, in turn, "dream" about the old times of being the young self.<br /> <br /> Though the young self was probably boisterous, "rotten" and fun, the older self is more mature and cannot return to that state of being.<br /> <br /> One of the tragedies of aging, one becomes a different person with time.<br /> <br /> (I will interpret "under my window" as the bedroom window of the girl, so the older girl still sleeps under the same window she slept under as a child. This is reasonable because rooms tend to hold a lot of nostalgia and remind people about the things that happened in the room.)
Sorry for the double post.<br /> But it also occurred to me, the "narrator" of this song could be the girl's childhood in general. It would make more sense in a way. <br /> Really, anything that knew her as a child could be the "narrator."