"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.
Half the fun of it is that I can't keep up
And I lose my breath and what's worse
Is I don't think I'm the first
Any way you like, you can do no wrong
Please just give me five minutes dear
Let's just pray it's not near
Stay forever; I won't last it
I'll die trying
Will you suffer a little with me?
But you would never
With a second chance I'd mess it up again
But I'd do it worse than before
Cos I've learned so much more
About the way we fertilise the roses
That were bought to show us how much you care
Now it's easier to care
Getting past this -- you have to take it
I will wait here
Please believe me, just stop running
Say you'll get help
I caught the last flight, I had to see ya
It can't wait longer
He's not your father, just a doctor
So lick your own wounds
And I lose my breath and what's worse
Is I don't think I'm the first
Any way you like, you can do no wrong
Please just give me five minutes dear
Let's just pray it's not near
Stay forever; I won't last it
I'll die trying
Will you suffer a little with me?
But you would never
With a second chance I'd mess it up again
But I'd do it worse than before
Cos I've learned so much more
About the way we fertilise the roses
That were bought to show us how much you care
Now it's easier to care
Getting past this -- you have to take it
I will wait here
Please believe me, just stop running
Say you'll get help
I caught the last flight, I had to see ya
It can't wait longer
He's not your father, just a doctor
So lick your own wounds
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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"
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”
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I can think of two meanings for the song.
Meaning #1: This guy is having sex with a girl, and he just can't 'last'. They keep trying, and they're both getting quite frusterated.
Meaning #2: The second part to these lyrics make me think that his lover is mentally ill, and this is him telling her to get help.
I <3 this song, whatever it means. :)
I can think of two meanings for the song.
Meaning #1: This guy is having sex with a girl, and he just can't 'last'. They keep trying, and they're both getting quite frusterated.
Meaning #2: The second part to these lyrics make me think that his lover is mentally ill, and this is him telling her to get help.
I <3 this song, whatever it means. :)
I got no idea what this song means, im suprised it hasnt had more posts. I am diggin this song, its reall retro-ish. Go Snow Patrol !!!
I got no idea what this song means, im suprised it hasnt had more posts. I am diggin this song, its reall retro-ish. Go Snow Patrol !!!
YEAH!!! Lithium is damn right! im surprised...disgraced... OUTRAGED :P that this song hasnt got more posts, i cant get enough of it! its great. sweet insanity's got a good idea on it i reckon, the only thing i wanting to add being that it may also be about this guy trying to get this absolutely amazin girl who everyone else is tryin to get but when he finally gets there shes not what he thought, and shes the one who needs help having him???
I took it as a guy chasing this girl - he 'won't last it' if he's not with her, but she's not ready for a relationship with him or something. I though the whole 'lick your own wounds thing' was that she got pregnant. Or something. To be honest I can't really concentrate on the lyrics with this song.
Not really sure, I just think it's a cool song.
I think its about a man who's with this woman who's just a bit too perfect (can do no wrong) He can't keep up with her and how wonderful she is. she'd never sink to his level and suffer a bit with him like normal people. She's a pain cos shes so perfect but he can't help loving her. A brilliant end to a brilliatn album!
Cheesejester's got the right idea.
A bit about making the same mistake twice as well:
"With a second chance I'd mess it up again But I'd do it worse than before Cos I've learned so much more"
Makes me think how you are ment to learn from your mistakes, and how the second time it's even worse as he's learnt so much more, yet still does it....if you follow me!
yeah i just wanted to add to my bit before (thanks to Strainy's comment) that that verse:
"With a second chance I'd mess it up again But I'd do it worse than before Cos I've learned so much more"
could be that, afterwards even though this girl isnt everything he though, he reckons that if given another chance, he'd still do what he did in the first place coz the girl seemed so damn perfect