"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.
Am I faithful? Am I strong? Am I good enough to belong?
In your reverie, a perfect girl
Your vision of romance is cruel
All along I played the fool
All your expectations bury me
Don't worry, you will find the answer if you let it go
Give yourself some time to falter
And don't forgo, knowing that's your love no matter what
And everything will come around in time
I own my insecurities, I try to own my destiny
That I can make or break it if I choose
But you take my words and twist them 'round
'Til I'm the one who brings you down
You make me feel like I'm the one to blame for all this
You will find the answer if you let it go
Give yourself some time to falter
Don't forgo, knowing that's your love no matter what
And everything will come around in time
'Cause you need everybody with you on your side
Know that I am here for you but I hope in time
Find yourself alright alone
Find yourself with open arms
Find yourself, find yourself in time
The riot in my heart decides to keep me open and alive
I have to take myself away from you
'Cause I can't compete, I can't deny
There's nothing that I didn't try
How did I go so wrong in loving you?
Don't worry, you will find the answer if you let it go
Give yourself some time to falter
Don't forgo, knowing that's your love no matter what
And everything will come around in time
In your reverie, a perfect girl
Your vision of romance is cruel
All along I played the fool
All your expectations bury me
Don't worry, you will find the answer if you let it go
Give yourself some time to falter
And don't forgo, knowing that's your love no matter what
And everything will come around in time
I own my insecurities, I try to own my destiny
That I can make or break it if I choose
But you take my words and twist them 'round
'Til I'm the one who brings you down
You make me feel like I'm the one to blame for all this
You will find the answer if you let it go
Give yourself some time to falter
Don't forgo, knowing that's your love no matter what
And everything will come around in time
'Cause you need everybody with you on your side
Know that I am here for you but I hope in time
Find yourself alright alone
Find yourself with open arms
Find yourself, find yourself in time
The riot in my heart decides to keep me open and alive
I have to take myself away from you
'Cause I can't compete, I can't deny
There's nothing that I didn't try
How did I go so wrong in loving you?
Don't worry, you will find the answer if you let it go
Give yourself some time to falter
Don't forgo, knowing that's your love no matter what
And everything will come around in time
Lyrics submitted by WinterOnyx, edited by altamber8
Perfect Girl Lyrics as written by Sarah Mclachlan Pierre Marchand
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
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."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
This will someday be a Sarah Mclachlan classic. I think this is about a woman struggling to live up to her lover's expectations, which seem to lofty for her to reach. "Your vision of romance is cruel All along I played the fool." She rebukes her partner's unreasonable expectations, but what makes this song so wonderful for me is that, at the same time, she loves him anyway; she just wants him to "come around." At the beginning of the song, she stresses what should be important in a relationship: faith and strength. Definately a song to live by.
She is with someone who is not good for her. She leaves because she's knows its bad. He has to be right no matter what. She lets him win. She leaves him to his own demons who he thinks is her, in reality his demons are him. She is better without him. She wants him to remain in her life, but she knows he's should just be with himself. It's better for her and him in the end, so he can find himself.
today, this is my song. relationships take work, but there's only so much you can do when the person you're in a relationship with is not secure with themself. this isn't just true with romantic relationships. the insecure person doesn't hear your words for what you're saying - like sarah says, they twist your words until YOU are the one - you are the person to blame, because it is easier to blame you than to blame themself, come to terms with it, and move on.
ah, but actually telling that person this... and actually doing what you say... that's another story altogether.
I've heard Sarah explain this song before... It's someone singing to a friend who's going through a rough breakup. Letting her know that she's still ok, that she's loved, has friends that support her, and hopefully she'll be ok on her own one day. She wrote it for a friend.
this is one of my fave sarah songs, love it.
This song makes me think that the singer(lets just say female) is obsessed with her lover. He ( the lover) is not sure about his feelings towards her. She tells him she will always be there for him, and that he has to let her go to realize how much he loves her. this is a beautiful song. One of my favourites, and easy to play on the piano too.
one of my fave songs.
this song, everytime i listen to it, seems to tell of someone who is taking a step back from the relationship with someone who has a lot of issues to deal with, and it is with this distance the partner should work himself/herself out (a task that the girl feels should be done alone). Perfect girl hopes that in time, her partner would fix him/herself up (realize that Perfect girl should be loved as who she is-- free from all his expectations. I love how in the chorus, she tells her partner just how to do that-- to let go (of the expectations), to let yourself falter, and that to know that whoever you are whatever you do... you are loved.
really good, this song.
I absolutely love this song. One of my favorites from Sarah McLachLan!
Love this song. These are my favourite lines: "I own my insecurities, I try to own my destiny, that I can make or break it if I choose..."
i've never really thought about this song as having to do with being in a relationship, maybe partially because i've never been in one myself, but looking over the lyrics again i can see how that would work. to me anyways i think it's about someone who feels kind of inferior to everyone around her no matter how hard she keeps trying to do things right. then the chorus and the bridge ('you need everybody with you on your side...") is someone coming along and telling her that things will turn out ok in the end.