"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.
It's a chilly English winter
And solitude is never easy to maintain
Except when it rains
So I hang an empty smile beneath my empty eyes
And go out for a walk
The wet morning sun reflects off the paving-stones
While a little dog barks its head off
In the distance
Oh, what a perfect day
To think about my silly world
My feet are firmly screwed to the floor
What is there to fear from such a regular world?
Oh, what a perfect day
To think about my silly world
My feet are firmly screwed to the floor
What is there to fear from such a regular world?
Passing by a cemetery
I think of all the little hopes and dreams
That lie lifeless and unfilled beneath the soil
I see an old man fingering his perishing flesh
He tells himself he was a good man and did good things
Amused and confused by life's little ironies
He swallows his bottle of distilled damnation
People turn around with unseeing eyes
They're looking for something that doesn't exist
The world you once knew is being eaten up by rust
No-one has time for the past
But still in God they trust
The future is now
But it's all going wrong
Bodies good for nothing
But it's to nothing they belong
People say their prayers and some work hard
If you give them all your money
They'll give you their hearts
This town ain't going like a ghost town
It's going like hell
Oh, what a perfect day
To think about my silly world
My feet are firmly screwed to the floor
What is there to fear from such a regular world?
And solitude is never easy to maintain
Except when it rains
So I hang an empty smile beneath my empty eyes
And go out for a walk
The wet morning sun reflects off the paving-stones
While a little dog barks its head off
In the distance
Oh, what a perfect day
To think about my silly world
My feet are firmly screwed to the floor
What is there to fear from such a regular world?
Oh, what a perfect day
To think about my silly world
My feet are firmly screwed to the floor
What is there to fear from such a regular world?
Passing by a cemetery
I think of all the little hopes and dreams
That lie lifeless and unfilled beneath the soil
I see an old man fingering his perishing flesh
He tells himself he was a good man and did good things
Amused and confused by life's little ironies
He swallows his bottle of distilled damnation
People turn around with unseeing eyes
They're looking for something that doesn't exist
The world you once knew is being eaten up by rust
No-one has time for the past
But still in God they trust
The future is now
But it's all going wrong
Bodies good for nothing
But it's to nothing they belong
People say their prayers and some work hard
If you give them all your money
They'll give you their hearts
This town ain't going like a ghost town
It's going like hell
Oh, what a perfect day
To think about my silly world
My feet are firmly screwed to the floor
What is there to fear from such a regular world?
Lyrics submitted by [inactive account]
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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.
A great way to wrap up a great album.
I agree Major Valor .... Perfect way
Sorry,<br /> but the original (vinyl) album as well as Matt Johnson's 2002 remastered CD version (both containing just 7 tracks) finish off with "Giant". Matt Johnson found the addition of "Perfect" to the US CD version useless and detestable.<br /> I agree with him that "Giant" is the much better closer, but don't agree that "Perfect" would be useless.<br /> As a kind of compromise, I usually listen to the 8-track CD version in a reversed order, with "Perfect" coming first and "Giant" coming last, so that I don't have to miss out on (the indeed great) "Perfect" but still finish off the album with "Giant" (a really more suitable closer in my {and Johnson'} opinion).<br />