"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 sit and wait for you cause' this was never over
I hear the talk in codes
If you want me then come get me
You want me so come get me
I'm standing with my allies
Sellin' arms to strangers
Watch them shoot ya down
There aint nothin' I will say to you
But I know your eyes are fearin'
I watch as you creep by
I'll find my way, wont let go
I'll find my way, wont let go
I'm standing with my allies
Sellin' guns to strangers
Still dont let me sin
I hear the talk in codes
If you want me then come get me
You want me so come get me
I'm standing with my allies
Sellin' arms to strangers
Watch them shoot ya down
There aint nothin' I will say to you
But I know your eyes are fearin'
I watch as you creep by
I'll find my way, wont let go
I'll find my way, wont let go
I'm standing with my allies
Sellin' guns to strangers
Still dont let me sin
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
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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,
for example:
i've obtained these conclusions through tons of research
dude,i'd like to know about your opinions on other songs,too!<br /> you really go for it!<br /> cheers!<br /> Lynn_.
Unbelievable! That totally makes sense now. I always listen to music, not really to words, but understanding the lyrics makes the music stronger.<br /> Thank you!
After watching them at hyde park last night... the bloke singing this song (sorry, name i cant remember) said that this song was about "love, family, friends and all that stuff". So i personally think this song has a mixture of different meanings, and it is simply up to us how we want to interprit it, for everyone has different views and opinions...
This song is about war, mainly from a soldier's point of view. The "international version" of this CD doesn't have the long ending, which kinda sucks.
longest song ever?
lol, it is very long what nearly 11 mins?! its so lush though, sorry, but what is up with the names for these song,s they dont connect at all! i am actually singing to song at the momment, i love, and ovary strip before, so lush.
sounds like he's putting a hit on someone he used to love o.O;
yea actually i understand that
I think it's about a rift forming in his revolutionary group (I don't want to go so far as calling them "Terrorists").
NOT THE LONGEST SONG EVER AT ALL BUT STILL POSSIBLY THE BEST SONG BY THEM
I love this song and no way longest song ever