"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.
All is fair
I'm trying to make you notice me but you don't care
You play me like a broken game of Snakes and Ladders
Or cards or piano or a record that's been thrown in the trash
I like you
I've liked you since I saw you walking down my street
I like your little vibe and your clothes and feet
And your hair and your eyes and your
Nose and your face and your life
I know your name
And I've got your number
I don't wanna save the world
I just wanna waste some time with you
We're both so young
We might as well face it
I don't wanna change nothing
I just wanna waste some time with you
Three blind mice
I may as well be asking them for stable advice
Instead I'm on a seesaw all day and night
And all week and all month and all year all my life
I'm only human
If only you could see
You do some pretty crazy little things to me
And I don't wanna change the course of history
I just want you to be, next to someone like me
And be free
'Cause I know your name
And I've got your number
I don't wanna save the world
I just wanna waste some time with you
We're both so young
We might as well face it
I don't wanna change nothing
I just wanna waste some time with you
Wasting time
Wasting time with you
Wasting time
Wasting time with you
Now you know
My thoughts about where I would like the story to go
I feel that if you really like to play it cool
We should do it, do it, do it, yeah
I know your name
And I've got your number
I don't wanna save the world
I just wanna waste some time with you
We're both so young
We might as well face it
I don't wanna change nothing
I just wanna waste some time with you
I know your name
I got your number
I don't wanna save the world
I just wanna waste some time with you
We're both so young
We might as well face it
I don't wanna change nothing at all
I just wanna waste some time with you
I'm trying to make you notice me but you don't care
You play me like a broken game of Snakes and Ladders
Or cards or piano or a record that's been thrown in the trash
I like you
I've liked you since I saw you walking down my street
I like your little vibe and your clothes and feet
And your hair and your eyes and your
Nose and your face and your life
I know your name
And I've got your number
I don't wanna save the world
I just wanna waste some time with you
We're both so young
We might as well face it
I don't wanna change nothing
I just wanna waste some time with you
Three blind mice
I may as well be asking them for stable advice
Instead I'm on a seesaw all day and night
And all week and all month and all year all my life
I'm only human
If only you could see
You do some pretty crazy little things to me
And I don't wanna change the course of history
I just want you to be, next to someone like me
And be free
'Cause I know your name
And I've got your number
I don't wanna save the world
I just wanna waste some time with you
We're both so young
We might as well face it
I don't wanna change nothing
I just wanna waste some time with you
Wasting time
Wasting time with you
Wasting time
Wasting time with you
Now you know
My thoughts about where I would like the story to go
I feel that if you really like to play it cool
We should do it, do it, do it, yeah
I know your name
And I've got your number
I don't wanna save the world
I just wanna waste some time with you
We're both so young
We might as well face it
I don't wanna change nothing
I just wanna waste some time with you
I know your name
I got your number
I don't wanna save the world
I just wanna waste some time with you
We're both so young
We might as well face it
I don't wanna change nothing at all
I just wanna waste some time with you
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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,
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
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.
ok no one has commented this song.. why its so great!! hahah it will always remind me of year 10 camp!! Singing this on the bus.. the guys and the girls all at once!! people doing the back up.. you could just hear the music in your head.. it was so fun!! it was perfect for the occasion to because we were all wasting our last camp together.. I'll forever love this song and year 10 camp!!