"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.
again I step out my yard
head swings round, clocks my landlord
start chippin’ up the road cos I owe him three-weeks dough
the ship’s sinkin’, tele’s on the blink
‘n’ in the pub it’s one beer to last all evening
later on chips for feedin’
when the quids are down
try sneakin’ a bottle of brandy round bouncers into the Ministry Of Sound
scored, Moffat, back indoors with a profit
‘cos they do say havin’ no money forces one to make the right choices on life each day
if you can’t pay you can’t play
success hides a multitude of sins
but I ain’t successful and my piggy-bank’s still in the bin,
been there since I was a kid
goin’ round in circles, not being careful but say;
“I get paid on Friday, can’t wait to live life my way”
‘cos on the streets I’m just a geezer
I gotta make ends meet, yeah?
gotta do what I need to
shit, we all got our runnin’s now
on the streets I’m just a geezer
gotta make ends meet, yeah?
gotta do what I need to
shit, we all got our runnin’s now
Brut pocket I’m back in the Burassic seat again
after spending sixty pound last week on beers with friends
brought it all on myself see, granted
now I’m scorin’ draw for everyone to get my next spliff sorted
hang round mum’s house to get smothered
got no tins in the cupboard this week
hold on to your seat ‘cos it’s all gone a bit Pete
live for the moment said he *wrong*
downin’ beers out of my tree, now the moment’s passed the cash is a distant memory
you know things are bleak when you’re tellin’ the birds you asked out last week that things
are busy
when really you’ve got no dough in the piggy
two days after pay day’s clocked
and it’s back at The Black Dog stuffin’ them socks into pool table pockets
Chorus
I’m skint, got no moolah
need to get some colour in my cheeks says mum
that’ll be my English inner city tan
I’m skinny like a woman, need to get some punan’ through the door
*Please Sir, can I have some more?*
oi.
oi, lend me a tenner so I can go to the chip-shop,
twenty-four garage and then for a quick top,
this time opting for the reassuringly cheap option
when the quids are down,
my Schott hoodie’s my ball gown
my essential accessory is my bad day frown ‘cos,
life in the third-class carriage can be evil
when your only ticket to freedom is a permit to travel
so, Uncle Shiner, you best go get the spade and dig me a grave
‘cos I can’t pay the rent but I got ‘ hundred-and-nine pound pair o’ trainers on
Chorus
La la la
and then this geezer turned round to me and said
“What are you doing, you twat”
and I was like
“What the fuck, is this, what are you saying, you div?”
oi… that’s it.
head swings round, clocks my landlord
start chippin’ up the road cos I owe him three-weeks dough
the ship’s sinkin’, tele’s on the blink
‘n’ in the pub it’s one beer to last all evening
later on chips for feedin’
when the quids are down
try sneakin’ a bottle of brandy round bouncers into the Ministry Of Sound
scored, Moffat, back indoors with a profit
‘cos they do say havin’ no money forces one to make the right choices on life each day
if you can’t pay you can’t play
success hides a multitude of sins
but I ain’t successful and my piggy-bank’s still in the bin,
been there since I was a kid
goin’ round in circles, not being careful but say;
“I get paid on Friday, can’t wait to live life my way”
‘cos on the streets I’m just a geezer
I gotta make ends meet, yeah?
gotta do what I need to
shit, we all got our runnin’s now
on the streets I’m just a geezer
gotta make ends meet, yeah?
gotta do what I need to
shit, we all got our runnin’s now
Brut pocket I’m back in the Burassic seat again
after spending sixty pound last week on beers with friends
brought it all on myself see, granted
now I’m scorin’ draw for everyone to get my next spliff sorted
hang round mum’s house to get smothered
got no tins in the cupboard this week
hold on to your seat ‘cos it’s all gone a bit Pete
live for the moment said he *wrong*
downin’ beers out of my tree, now the moment’s passed the cash is a distant memory
you know things are bleak when you’re tellin’ the birds you asked out last week that things
are busy
when really you’ve got no dough in the piggy
two days after pay day’s clocked
and it’s back at The Black Dog stuffin’ them socks into pool table pockets
Chorus
I’m skint, got no moolah
need to get some colour in my cheeks says mum
that’ll be my English inner city tan
I’m skinny like a woman, need to get some punan’ through the door
*Please Sir, can I have some more?*
oi.
oi, lend me a tenner so I can go to the chip-shop,
twenty-four garage and then for a quick top,
this time opting for the reassuringly cheap option
when the quids are down,
my Schott hoodie’s my ball gown
my essential accessory is my bad day frown ‘cos,
life in the third-class carriage can be evil
when your only ticket to freedom is a permit to travel
so, Uncle Shiner, you best go get the spade and dig me a grave
‘cos I can’t pay the rent but I got ‘ hundred-and-nine pound pair o’ trainers on
Chorus
La la la
and then this geezer turned round to me and said
“What are you doing, you twat”
and I was like
“What the fuck, is this, what are you saying, you div?”
oi… that’s it.
Lyrics submitted by Elin
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
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.
nice beat.
where is this, it's not on either one of the albums is it?
yeh it's on the All Got Our Runnins EP excellent
Nice Oliver Twist reference