"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.
So you don't wanna hear about my good song?
You don't wanna hear about how I am getting on
With all the things that I can get done
The sun is in the sky and I am by my lonesome
So you don't wanna hear about my good day?
You have better things to do than to hear me say
God, it's been a lovely day, everything's been going my way
I took out the trash today and I'm on fire
So you don't wanna hear about my good friends
You don't have the guts to take the truth or consequence
Success is in the eye of the beholder
And it's looking even better over your cold shoulder
I'm not suggesting you get to line me up for questioning
But Jesus think about the bridges you are burning and I'm betting
That even though you knew it from the start
You'd rather be a bitch than be an ordinary broken heart
So go ahead and talk about your bad day
I want all the details of the pain and misery
That you are inflicting on the others
I consider them my sisters and I want their numbers
God, it's been a lovely day, everything's been going my way
I took up croquet today, I'm on fire
I picked up the pieces of my broken ego
I have finally made my peace as far as you and me go
But I'd love to have you up to see the place
I'd like to do more than survive, I'd like to rub it in your face
Hey, it's been a lovely day, everything is going my way
I had so much fun today and I'm on fire
God, it's been a lovely day every thing's been going my way
Ever since you went away, hey, I'm on fire
I'm on fire, I'm on fire, I'm on
I'm on fire, I'm on fire
I'm on fire, I'm on
So you don't wanna hear about my good day?
You don't wanna hear about how I am getting on
With all the things that I can get done
The sun is in the sky and I am by my lonesome
So you don't wanna hear about my good day?
You have better things to do than to hear me say
God, it's been a lovely day, everything's been going my way
I took out the trash today and I'm on fire
So you don't wanna hear about my good friends
You don't have the guts to take the truth or consequence
Success is in the eye of the beholder
And it's looking even better over your cold shoulder
I'm not suggesting you get to line me up for questioning
But Jesus think about the bridges you are burning and I'm betting
That even though you knew it from the start
You'd rather be a bitch than be an ordinary broken heart
So go ahead and talk about your bad day
I want all the details of the pain and misery
That you are inflicting on the others
I consider them my sisters and I want their numbers
God, it's been a lovely day, everything's been going my way
I took up croquet today, I'm on fire
I picked up the pieces of my broken ego
I have finally made my peace as far as you and me go
But I'd love to have you up to see the place
I'd like to do more than survive, I'd like to rub it in your face
Hey, it's been a lovely day, everything is going my way
I had so much fun today and I'm on fire
God, it's been a lovely day every thing's been going my way
Ever since you went away, hey, I'm on fire
I'm on fire, I'm on fire, I'm on
I'm on fire, I'm on fire
I'm on fire, I'm on
So you don't wanna hear about my good day?
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Ha... Gotta love the parody on "I Will Survive"
"I'd like to do more than survive, I'd like to rub it in your face!"