"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.
All the words in my mouth
That the scene deemed unworthy of letting out
Banded together to form a makeshift militia
And burrowed bloodily through my tongue and my teeth
So I stood proud in the gallery
With my open socket of a mouth for them to see
They just laughed and said "That boy, he
That boy's got woe, whoa
He lives with woe, whoa"
And this girl who I met
Whose pride makes her hard to forget
She took pity on me horizontally
But most likely because of my band
And that's all I can get when I'm lonely
And these visions of death seem to own me
In the quiet of the classrooms
All across the stacked United States of Woe, whoa
We live with woe, oh, oh, oh, oh
She said "I can't get laid in this town
Without these pointy fucking shoes
My feet are so black and blue
And so are you"
Please take me
Out of my body up through the palm trees
To smell California in sweet hypocrisy
Floating, my senses surround my body
I wake my nose to smell that ocean burn
Hah, hah!
Ba da da, ba da da, ba da da, da da da
Ba da da, ba da da, ba da da, da da da
Ba da da, ba da da, ba da da, da da da
Ba da da, la da da, la da da
So now I'm forging ahead
Passed all the plutocrats who sold me out
Go sob in your bed
If life is twice as pretty once you're dead
Then send me a card
I'm still the optimist
Though it is hard
When all you want to be is in a dream
A dream
Ba da da, ba da da, ba da da, da da da
La da da, la da da, la da da, da da
That the scene deemed unworthy of letting out
Banded together to form a makeshift militia
And burrowed bloodily through my tongue and my teeth
So I stood proud in the gallery
With my open socket of a mouth for them to see
They just laughed and said "That boy, he
That boy's got woe, whoa
He lives with woe, whoa"
And this girl who I met
Whose pride makes her hard to forget
She took pity on me horizontally
But most likely because of my band
And that's all I can get when I'm lonely
And these visions of death seem to own me
In the quiet of the classrooms
All across the stacked United States of Woe, whoa
We live with woe, oh, oh, oh, oh
She said "I can't get laid in this town
Without these pointy fucking shoes
My feet are so black and blue
And so are you"
Please take me
Out of my body up through the palm trees
To smell California in sweet hypocrisy
Floating, my senses surround my body
I wake my nose to smell that ocean burn
Hah, hah!
Ba da da, ba da da, ba da da, da da da
Ba da da, ba da da, ba da da, da da da
Ba da da, ba da da, ba da da, da da da
Ba da da, la da da, la da da
So now I'm forging ahead
Passed all the plutocrats who sold me out
Go sob in your bed
If life is twice as pretty once you're dead
Then send me a card
I'm still the optimist
Though it is hard
When all you want to be is in a dream
A dream
Ba da da, ba da da, ba da da, da da da
La da da, la da da, la da da, da da
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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,
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.
Let me start by saying that the magic of music lies behind the interpretation of the listener.
As for this song, it seems straight forward at first, jumps into a metaphor, and concludes with, well a conclusion.
"All the words in my mouth that the scene deemed unworthy of letting out banded together To form a makeshift militia and burrowed bloodily through my tongue and my teeth."
I stood proud in the gallery with my open socket of a mouth for them to see. They all just laughed and said "That boy , he, that boy's got woe. (woe.) He lives with woe. (woe.)"
And this girl who I met whose pride makes her hard to forget, She took pity on me (horizontally) but most likely because of my band. (hey)
It's all I can get when I'm lonely and these visions of death seem to own me In the quiet of the classrooms all across the stacked United States of Woe. We live with woe.
[Metaphor Time]
She said "I can't get laid in this town without these pointy fucking shoes. My feet are so black and blue and so are you."
Please take me out of my body up through the palm trees to smell California in sweet hypocrisy. Floating. My senses surround my body. I wake my nose to smell that ocean burn.
So now I'm forging ahead past all the plutocrats who sold me out. Go sob in your bed. If life is twice as pretty once your dead then send me a card.
I'm still the optimist though it is hard when all you want to be is in a dream.