"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.
Yeah, they say there's a place free of trouble and care
And you have to pass a test for to make it there
It has something to do with the road that's straight and narrow
And the only way to go it is by being right and thorough
There's always one more hill to climb
There's always one more hill to climb
Bombarded by multiple choices 24/7
Navigating a tangled web of logic and passion
Guided by subconscious voices, astute and sharpened
Tested, tested oh oh oh
Often times we may be wonder what we're supposed to do
Stand and deliver or see the conflict through
And as we long and proceed to build our castles in the sky
Our plans get confounded and determination dies
There's no preparation and no guide
Just what you've done before here with your life
Bombarded by multiple choices 24/7
Navigating a tangled web of logic and passion
Guided by subconscious voices, astute and sharpened
Tested, tested oh oh oh
Acting on will (the test is the reaction)
Opening your heart (the test is the emotion)
Rolling the dice (the test is the agility)
Burning out your mind (the test is a recovery)
Let's go
You can play by the rules or bend them to your knees
But the test isn't over til you reach your dark eternal sleep
There are no absolutes, no big wheels in the sky
You don't have to be first just gotta somehow get by
Yeah bombarded by multiple choices 24/7
Navigating a tangled web of logic and passion
Guided by subconscious voices astute and sharpened
Tested, tested
And you have to pass a test for to make it there
It has something to do with the road that's straight and narrow
And the only way to go it is by being right and thorough
There's always one more hill to climb
There's always one more hill to climb
Bombarded by multiple choices 24/7
Navigating a tangled web of logic and passion
Guided by subconscious voices, astute and sharpened
Tested, tested oh oh oh
Often times we may be wonder what we're supposed to do
Stand and deliver or see the conflict through
And as we long and proceed to build our castles in the sky
Our plans get confounded and determination dies
There's no preparation and no guide
Just what you've done before here with your life
Bombarded by multiple choices 24/7
Navigating a tangled web of logic and passion
Guided by subconscious voices, astute and sharpened
Tested, tested oh oh oh
Acting on will (the test is the reaction)
Opening your heart (the test is the emotion)
Rolling the dice (the test is the agility)
Burning out your mind (the test is a recovery)
Let's go
You can play by the rules or bend them to your knees
But the test isn't over til you reach your dark eternal sleep
There are no absolutes, no big wheels in the sky
You don't have to be first just gotta somehow get by
Yeah bombarded by multiple choices 24/7
Navigating a tangled web of logic and passion
Guided by subconscious voices astute and sharpened
Tested, tested
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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”
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,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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.
Whoa... no one's talked about this song yet?
Hmmm... I've never heard this song before. From what I can tell, he's saying that life is a test you can't prepare for. Trying to over-prepare for it, like through religion or something, won't do anything since there are some cases and instances you can't control.
That's just a guess, though...