"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.
THE COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON THE PRINCIPLE THAT THE PRIMARY ROLE OF THE GOVERNMENT IS TO PROTECT PROPERTY FROM THE MAJORITY
AND SO IT REMAINS
1, 2, 3, 4
Hello it's us again
We're still so in love with you
And yes we mean it too
Yes we're so in love with you
Hello it's us again
You thought you were our friends
Success is an ugly word
Especially in your tiny world
The masses against the classes
I'm tired of giving a reason
When the future is what we believe in
We love winter
It brings us closer together
So can you hurt us anymore
Can you feel like it was before
Or are you lost forever more
Messed up and dead on alcohol
Hello, fond farewell my dears
I hope you hear this nice and clear
Our love is unconditional
Our hate is yours to feed upon
The masses against the classes
I'm tired of giving a reason
When the future is what we believe in
We love the winter
It brings us closer together
The masses against the classes
I'm tired of giving a reason
When we're the only thing left to believe in
We love the winter
It brings us closer together
A SLAVE BEGINS BY DEMANDING JUSTICE
AND ENDS BY WANTING TO WEAR A CROWN
AND SO IT REMAINS
1, 2, 3, 4
Hello it's us again
We're still so in love with you
And yes we mean it too
Yes we're so in love with you
Hello it's us again
You thought you were our friends
Success is an ugly word
Especially in your tiny world
The masses against the classes
I'm tired of giving a reason
When the future is what we believe in
We love winter
It brings us closer together
So can you hurt us anymore
Can you feel like it was before
Or are you lost forever more
Messed up and dead on alcohol
Hello, fond farewell my dears
I hope you hear this nice and clear
Our love is unconditional
Our hate is yours to feed upon
The masses against the classes
I'm tired of giving a reason
When the future is what we believe in
We love the winter
It brings us closer together
The masses against the classes
I'm tired of giving a reason
When we're the only thing left to believe in
We love the winter
It brings us closer together
A SLAVE BEGINS BY DEMANDING JUSTICE
AND ENDS BY WANTING TO WEAR A CROWN
Lyrics submitted by Thom Webbe
Masses Against the Classes Lyrics as written by Nicholas Jones James Bradfield
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
I think the greetings are from the masses to the elite.
The ugly little success is that of the concentrations of wealth and power, who often use their own myths of self-made empires to convince the lower classes that their cooperation with the ruling classes will be rewarded by that same kind of success (this is hinted at in the ending quote). Everybody wants to get rich, few succeed, so for most people the capitalist dream isn't a reality but an ultimately unfulfilled promise which prevents people thinking about different kinds of social order.
I think the winter they speak of is the intensification of whatever forms of oppression are used by the ruling classes, which tend to galvanize (bring together) popular opposition, where before there was much more complacency. The privatization of (all) water in Bolivia springs to mind.
They half-sarcastically say their love (for the rich) is unconditional (and it is: if you look at it, people tend to see success as self-legitimating, and don't question its origins), and their hate can be utilized: the ruling classes foster racism, war, and things that divide people on superficial cultural lines rather than risk them uniting as the working class.