"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.
When the disappearing begins
The ghosts we kept within
Can break free from inside
And untie our blindfold eyes
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts...
So when the ghosts find you
Be careful but be graceful
For all will be revealed
When ghosts become set free
A soul in pain has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
A soul in pain has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
Build bridges and not roads
Make love, make hate, make war
A soul in pain has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
A soul in pain has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
The ghosts we kept within
Can break free from inside
And untie our blindfold eyes
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts...
So when the ghosts find you
Be careful but be graceful
For all will be revealed
When ghosts become set free
A soul in pain has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
A soul in pain has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
Build bridges and not roads
Make love, make hate, make war
A soul in pain has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
A soul in pain has no image to reclaim
To repel ghosts
To repel ghosts
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
This song is so vague. I could see them referring to the lessons to be learned by exploring the literal dead, and not advocating the atrocities always going on in the world. Repelling them, freeing them, as we free ourselves from the cycles of aggression/war/terror.
Or maybe they're referring to the faceless people ("ghosts") the first world never interacts with, but is often unwillingly the victim of our apathy or exploitation ("A soul in pain has no image to reclaim").
I don't bloody know.
Maybe the ghosts are like, ghosts of your past, like painful memories that you lock inside yourself? Hence, 'a soul in pain', and 'ghosts we kept within'. When you come to terms with these 'ghosts' and break free of them ('break free from inside'/'set free'), you become enlightened about your true self ('untie our blindfolded eyes'/'all will be revealed') and can finally begin to live with grace, to deal with the pain that haunts you with grace & dignity ('So when the ghosts find you, be careful but be graceful'). The 'Build bridges and not roads/Make love make hate not war' stanza probably just refers to future relationships, or a new way to live your life now that 'all [is] revealed'.
Or something like that, it's pretty vague.
nice sounding guitar.. sounds like some coldplasong
No.
It seems to me that the ghosts are the inner emotions and thoughts that everyone has inside of them, but would never admit to anyone else or even themselves. This song is about someone who has suffered great loss and/or sadness and they've lets their ghosts free, hence "A soul in pain has no image to reclaim". As a whole this song to me is about the way people can fall apart when something tragic happens. There were a few lyrics I couldn't quite understand, but this is just my opinion
To me this song's about feeling empowered by learning to withhold love from those who would just take and not return it. Think people you might know who are maybe very giving and appear to not wish to be reciprocated, well I'm sure there are some who truly deal with that, but for some the intention when offering their 'best' is it will be noticed and rewarded. "To Repel Ghosts" I think is speaking to those people who learn the hard way that to withhold can also be rewarding. Of course the "Ghosts" in this song are people who come and go in life offering little to enrich each our experiences but instead only want to take or rather sap a kind individual's soul of whatever they can. It might sound like an aggressive analysis - and I'm not referring to personal experiences - but I think it's a relevant fact of life that the band are acknowledging here. Be careful of who you give your love to etc... Apart from that, beautiful song really. "Lifeblood" has finally started to grow on me!