"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.
Human
There have been times throughout my life
When I fell so far
I thought I'd never stand again
I watched my dreams depart
These aberrations had their place
In the grand design
But it's unnatural to feel
So bitter and resigned
CH
Forgive me my mistakes
I'm only human
I bleed just like you
From time to time
So why can't I convince you
I'll be fine?
Ignore the writing on the wall
It just decorates
A place that I have lived so long:
Delusion's vast estates
There's nothing sinister at all
Gnawing at my soul
But these confessions that I give
Help me feel in control
(CH)
No absolution comes for free
And it never will
And those among us without sin
Are even rarer still
If imperfection is the lens
That you see me through
Don't be surprised if someday soon
That lens stares back at you
(CH)
There have been times throughout my life
When I fell so far
I thought I'd never stand again
I watched my dreams depart
These aberrations had their place
In the grand design
But it's unnatural to feel
So bitter and resigned
CH
Forgive me my mistakes
I'm only human
I bleed just like you
From time to time
So why can't I convince you
I'll be fine?
Ignore the writing on the wall
It just decorates
A place that I have lived so long:
Delusion's vast estates
There's nothing sinister at all
Gnawing at my soul
But these confessions that I give
Help me feel in control
(CH)
No absolution comes for free
And it never will
And those among us without sin
Are even rarer still
If imperfection is the lens
That you see me through
Don't be surprised if someday soon
That lens stares back at you
(CH)
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"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
I personally feel this song has to do with forgiving yourself, NOT asking God for forgiveness. God is only an illusion for needing forgiveness outside ourselves. The real God is within us. We are the final judge and jury of ourselves. The part where the songwriter says "So why can't I convince you, I'll be fine?" I believe he is talking to himself convincing himself he is human and can forgive everyone else why not himself. I feel this song is an introspective song about seeing yourself for who you truly are and then you can also see everyone for whom they are the beauty and the ugly. :) Namaste