"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.
I'm under the assumption that I'm gonna be the one that's leaving you
Tonight
Oh, tonight
Well, I flipped every switch
That I could find on my way out
Just to upset you more (just to keep you busy)
just to make you angry (just because you were right)
Just because you were
All tired
Scream, safe haven
Lets get this out and on the table
Fast forward to, say, four o' clock,
I'm keeping time,
I'm holdin',
We're always holdin' (always holdin)
We're always holdin, holding out
And that's what got us here in the first place,
We should have never come here alone
(we should have never bothered at all), bothered at all
Scream older and wiser
Still filled with resentment
We get it, we get it
(i haven't been happier since)
Older and wiser
Still filled with resentment
We get it, we get it
(I haven't been happier, no, I haven't been happier, not since)
Five o' clock the floor caught fire with footsteps (my footsteps)
And spread like a disease to the door
I'm stuttering through it but I hear it's
Good to stick to what you know.
And you know the whole lot of this
All could have been avoided
When you were court side for this nightmare
Well since then I got myself
Come and listen
Scream older and wiser
Still filled with resentment
We get it, we get it
(I haven't been happier since)
Older and wiser
Still filled with resentment
We get it, we get it
(I haven't been happier, no, I haven't been happier, not since)
Well, we used to get so much more
(I used to, I used to too)
It used to take so much more
(I used to, I used to, I used to)
Tonight
Oh, tonight
Well, I flipped every switch
That I could find on my way out
Just to upset you more (just to keep you busy)
just to make you angry (just because you were right)
Just because you were
All tired
Scream, safe haven
Lets get this out and on the table
Fast forward to, say, four o' clock,
I'm keeping time,
I'm holdin',
We're always holdin' (always holdin)
We're always holdin, holding out
And that's what got us here in the first place,
We should have never come here alone
(we should have never bothered at all), bothered at all
Scream older and wiser
Still filled with resentment
We get it, we get it
(i haven't been happier since)
Older and wiser
Still filled with resentment
We get it, we get it
(I haven't been happier, no, I haven't been happier, not since)
Five o' clock the floor caught fire with footsteps (my footsteps)
And spread like a disease to the door
I'm stuttering through it but I hear it's
Good to stick to what you know.
And you know the whole lot of this
All could have been avoided
When you were court side for this nightmare
Well since then I got myself
Come and listen
Scream older and wiser
Still filled with resentment
We get it, we get it
(I haven't been happier since)
Older and wiser
Still filled with resentment
We get it, we get it
(I haven't been happier, no, I haven't been happier, not since)
Well, we used to get so much more
(I used to, I used to too)
It used to take so much more
(I used to, I used to, I used to)
Lyrics submitted by BrandNew1208
I Am Fred Astaire Lyrics as written by Edward Reyes Adam Burbank Lazzara
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
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
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
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.
"Well I've flipped every switch that I could find on my way out just to upset you more (just to keep you busy), just to make you angry (just because you were right), just because you were..." i havent read all the comments but i dont think he literally means light switches. i think he means he tried to piss someone off in every way he could possibly becuase he knew they were right about something. [=