"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.
Like a postcard picture fading out to desert winter,
Once an ocean now it leaves me dry.
Clouds are separating. tear apart this life I'm living
I'm gravitated to this brand new light.
Is it in me? am I still in control?
Did it leave me? I look around for a soul.
What's come over me? always waiting for the next wave to wash over,
And fill me again
Will it carry me far enough from all I've suffered?
Will it bridge the gap from there to here?
I wonder if I had it all would I feel there's something missing?
In tomorrow's light it seems so clear
Is it in me? am I still in control?
Did it leave me? I look around for a soul.
What's come over me? always waiting for the next wave to wash over,
And fill me again
The wind is keeping me from falling forward.
Just another crutch to get me through.
The wave is coming and it's rising upward.
It's going to lift me to meet the blue.
Is it in me? am I still in control?
Did it leave me? I look around for a soul.
What's come over me? always waiting for the next wave to wash over,
And fill me again
Once an ocean now it leaves me dry.
Clouds are separating. tear apart this life I'm living
I'm gravitated to this brand new light.
Is it in me? am I still in control?
Did it leave me? I look around for a soul.
What's come over me? always waiting for the next wave to wash over,
And fill me again
Will it carry me far enough from all I've suffered?
Will it bridge the gap from there to here?
I wonder if I had it all would I feel there's something missing?
In tomorrow's light it seems so clear
Is it in me? am I still in control?
Did it leave me? I look around for a soul.
What's come over me? always waiting for the next wave to wash over,
And fill me again
The wind is keeping me from falling forward.
Just another crutch to get me through.
The wave is coming and it's rising upward.
It's going to lift me to meet the blue.
Is it in me? am I still in control?
Did it leave me? I look around for a soul.
What's come over me? always waiting for the next wave to wash over,
And fill me again
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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”
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Ed Sheeran
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Personally I can't believe no one has commented on such a brilliant song.
It could be about drug addiction (but aren't all songs in a way).
Like a postcard picture fading out to desert winter Once an ocean now it leaves me dry
It leaves him dry so he needs more but:
Tear apart this life I'm living I'm gravitated to this brand new light
This part shows that he knows it is breaking his life up into pieces and destroying him but he can't get enough of the trip
It also says the person looks around for a soul because the drugs have taken that away from him and that "Am I in control?". The person thinks the drugs have taken over him.
Just another crutch to get me through - this bit just shows his condition, how bad its getting that its taking his mobility, paralysing him possibly.
Fill me again (the title) could also mean that he needs his next hit (to in his mind, survive)
Will it carry me far enough from all I've suffered? Will it bridge the gap from there to here? I wonder if I had it all would I feel there's something missing? In tomorrow's light it seems so clear
Really explains it all. Its what the drug does for him.
Thats just what I think