"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.
Thinking am i making more mistakes again?
Am i ever gonna win?
Chasing, never reaching for an open hand
It stops me where i stand
I'm still stuck here
Pretending to be happy
Pretending to be something
When i know it isn't real
Wait, you walk away
I don't need anybody
I won't need anybody
Wait, you walk away
And i don't need anybody
Changing, still arranging who i really am
You still don't give a damn
Facing, mind is racing, finally here i am
It stops me where i stand
Wait, you walk away
I don't need anybody
I won't need anybody
Wait, you walk away
And i don't need anybody but you
Won't you wait
I'm still stuck here
Pretending to be happy
Pretending to be something
When i know it isn't real
Wait, you walk away
I don't need anybody
I won't need anybody
Wait, you walk away
And i don't need anybody
I won't need anybody
Wait, you walk away
I don't need anybody
I won't need anybody
Wait, you walk away
And i don't need anybody but you
Am i ever gonna win?
Chasing, never reaching for an open hand
It stops me where i stand
I'm still stuck here
Pretending to be happy
Pretending to be something
When i know it isn't real
Wait, you walk away
I don't need anybody
I won't need anybody
Wait, you walk away
And i don't need anybody
Changing, still arranging who i really am
You still don't give a damn
Facing, mind is racing, finally here i am
It stops me where i stand
Wait, you walk away
I don't need anybody
I won't need anybody
Wait, you walk away
And i don't need anybody but you
Won't you wait
I'm still stuck here
Pretending to be happy
Pretending to be something
When i know it isn't real
Wait, you walk away
I don't need anybody
I won't need anybody
Wait, you walk away
And i don't need anybody
I won't need anybody
Wait, you walk away
I don't need anybody
I won't need anybody
Wait, you walk away
And i don't need anybody but you
Lyrics submitted by fierce melon
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.