"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.
Not been here since I was a boy
The sky unwrapped, the world my toy
A movie reel a million miles long
On and on...
Scene after scene passes by my life
The window's a wound. The road is a knife
The irony, ask me, 'where have you been?'
I don't know, I don't know
Because I don't know where to begin
Too much to do, too much to see
Pictures to take, people to meet
When there's so much space in between
It overwhelms me
Scene after scene passes by my life
The window's a wound. The road is a knife
The irony, ask me, 'where have you been?'
I don't know, I don't know
Because I don't know where to begin
Not been here since I was a boy
Now heart full of fear and a mask of painted joy
So much for these youthful eyes to see
So much for peace and tranquility
One Prairie Outpost, you are how I feel...
Alone in a flatland 'tween the dream and the real
The irony, ask me, 'where have you been?'
I don't know, I don't know
Because I don't know where to begin
I don't know where to begin
The sky unwrapped, the world my toy
A movie reel a million miles long
On and on...
Scene after scene passes by my life
The window's a wound. The road is a knife
The irony, ask me, 'where have you been?'
I don't know, I don't know
Because I don't know where to begin
Too much to do, too much to see
Pictures to take, people to meet
When there's so much space in between
It overwhelms me
Scene after scene passes by my life
The window's a wound. The road is a knife
The irony, ask me, 'where have you been?'
I don't know, I don't know
Because I don't know where to begin
Not been here since I was a boy
Now heart full of fear and a mask of painted joy
So much for these youthful eyes to see
So much for peace and tranquility
One Prairie Outpost, you are how I feel...
Alone in a flatland 'tween the dream and the real
The irony, ask me, 'where have you been?'
I don't know, I don't know
Because I don't know where to begin
I don't know where to begin
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
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,
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
What a nice, bittersweet song. I think it's him reflecting on his life, the travelling lifestyle. He seems to enjoy the rush, but also miss the tranquility of normal life.
Tranquility that never tends to exist in real life anyway, but hey.
it may mean something about going home after a long trip but like the other guy , travelling
i think it might mean where the band is (carbon leaf) and where they are trying to go. its a great metaphor if you think of it like this. a small prairie outpost "alone in a flatland between the dream and the real."
For me, it reminds me of moving across country as a kid, and now as an adult, finding myself in a place that I haven't been since I was a child, as I travel the same roads I did when I was young. If someone asks me "where have I been.", I would probably answer just as this song goes: I don't know because I don't know where to begin.
This is my utmost favorite Carbon Leaf song for personal reason. But beyond that, I see this as a story told from the eyes of an old man. "The irony asks me, where have you been? I don't know, I don't know, because I don't know where to begin." He's been everywhere in his life, that it seems the innocense of his childhood has escaped him. Perhaps he's not actually visiting his childhood home, but reflecting on the "realm" of his childhood long lost; meditating on what he hasn't even though of in so many years. "So much for peace and tranquility." He feels growing up has hardened his soul from that innocence of the world that was in his childhood eyes.
I can't really figure out why the window's a wound and the road is a knife. Is it because the road (all the traveling he has done) has taken away his peace and tranquility? The window is a wound caused by the road/traveling...hmm. So I guess he no longer thinks of the world a toy but too much of something too good to see. He must heal the wound by staying in one place for a while? It's my best guess.
@singlebarrel94 The window's a wound because when he looks out the window to the place that brings back so many memories of innocence and hope, it hurts like an open wound. The road is the knife that opened that wound.
A few years ago I was on a train going from Chicago to Denver- and this song was playing in my head the whole time--"alone in a flatland 'tween the dream and the real."