"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.
No more promises.
I have made them before and broken them.
Give me the ‘go ahead' and I'll undress myself for you,
If you're at all interested now
I'm growing legs
I'm the spider
I'm the spider
I crawl inside her
I'm the…hey
Oh I know your pain.
You, like I, plagued by the flies inside your brain.
Oh I'm creeping up your veins.
Are you smart enough and small enough to play this game?
I'm growing legs
I'm the spider
I'm the spider
I crawl inside her
I'm the whoa
I better watch my back around you.
You've got the movies, the shoes, the do
You've got me oh no, no, no
And I want you to know I want to.
You've got those tired eyes all the time.
Yeah, you need someone to bring you to bed.
I'm growing legs
I'm the spider
I am cold,
Too cool to call you,
Far too stoned to leave my bed.
I'll write this song to win your kiss
But stay asleep instead.
I have made them before and broken them.
Give me the ‘go ahead' and I'll undress myself for you,
If you're at all interested now
I'm growing legs
I'm the spider
I'm the spider
I crawl inside her
I'm the…hey
Oh I know your pain.
You, like I, plagued by the flies inside your brain.
Oh I'm creeping up your veins.
Are you smart enough and small enough to play this game?
I'm growing legs
I'm the spider
I'm the spider
I crawl inside her
I'm the whoa
I better watch my back around you.
You've got the movies, the shoes, the do
You've got me oh no, no, no
And I want you to know I want to.
You've got those tired eyes all the time.
Yeah, you need someone to bring you to bed.
I'm growing legs
I'm the spider
I am cold,
Too cool to call you,
Far too stoned to leave my bed.
I'll write this song to win your kiss
But stay asleep instead.
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
now that i think about it, maybe max does write about sex a lot...