"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.
if i’m just a slave
to my high school days
then when does a boy become a man
they say at 16 i will get tough and mean
college prep rally pep peachy keen
and i'll meet a gal and take her to the prom
and maybe we’ll make out
by the old viewpoint
but there are no gals
no pep rallies, good pals
stay away from these high school..
my teacher says that i’m brilliant
my mother says I’m a star
my girlfriend just avoids me
but i still pay for the dinner and the movie
my room is filled with abandon
my homework is yet left undone
i look at pictures of myself as a small child
all filled with hope and so alive but
oh, these high school days
take that away
take me away
stress and hard duress
replace the hope i had everyday
if only i could skip forward or back
the best years of my life
oh my god i hope not lets go
my friends are overachievers
my love is burning me down
my left nut has this crazy itch
during homeroom
oh god, that girl just saw me scratch my
all control is now spiraling
my grades look pretty damn low
i want to motivate myself
but how the hell am i supposed to work
so listen young boys
to the words that i speak
heed them and hold them to stay
never let go of the cowboy inside
or you’ll die in your high school days
to my high school days
then when does a boy become a man
they say at 16 i will get tough and mean
college prep rally pep peachy keen
and i'll meet a gal and take her to the prom
and maybe we’ll make out
by the old viewpoint
but there are no gals
no pep rallies, good pals
stay away from these high school..
my teacher says that i’m brilliant
my mother says I’m a star
my girlfriend just avoids me
but i still pay for the dinner and the movie
my room is filled with abandon
my homework is yet left undone
i look at pictures of myself as a small child
all filled with hope and so alive but
oh, these high school days
take that away
take me away
stress and hard duress
replace the hope i had everyday
if only i could skip forward or back
the best years of my life
oh my god i hope not lets go
my friends are overachievers
my love is burning me down
my left nut has this crazy itch
during homeroom
oh god, that girl just saw me scratch my
all control is now spiraling
my grades look pretty damn low
i want to motivate myself
but how the hell am i supposed to work
so listen young boys
to the words that i speak
heed them and hold them to stay
never let go of the cowboy inside
or you’ll die in your high school days
Lyrics submitted by AllStarMe
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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.
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”
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.
^^MY HIGH SCHOOL LIFE^^ I love it!
max likes to write songs about my life, damn.
hahaha this reminds me of some guys i know...
haha, i LOVE this song. i think anyone can relate to this song...at least for hating a bit of the high schooL years
'my teacher says that i’m brilliant my mother says I’m a star my girlfriend just avoids me but i still pay for the dinner and the movie'
i first heard this song, n i said ' i hope my yrs in high skool wont end up like that'. boy was i in for a big surprise. ^^
this song is freaking beautiful! one of my favourites ^^
this song has some hilarious lyrics, but my favorite part is definitely: "the best years of my life, oh my god i hope not"
i was so ready to get out of high school... and i remember people telling me to cherish those days because they're "the best days of your life" .... and i just remember thinking, 'shit, i hope not.' and for the record... college is way more fun.
that's my favourite line too. lmao i can definitely see where he's coming from when he says he hopes not.
my left nuttt has this crazy itchh during homeroommm oh god that girl just saw me scratch my- all control is now spirallingggggg
lol my favorite.i love max bemis. he's so cute in this song i can relate so much (except for the balls itching thing)
Listen to Blowing In the Wind by Bob Dylan. The verse pattern is identical. I don't care though, great song. Just thought that was cool.
I honestly think that the concept of high school being so great and such a cherishable part of the life experience has been created by people who peaked when they were teenagers. Life was just a downward spiral for them from there. No more prom crowns to win or student council popularity contests. Everything that they valued so much was gone after high school. A lot of respected, successful adults were really outcasts in high school. What is frowned upon in high school as weird is sometimes what sets you apart later on, in a good way.