"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.
Where the workers stand in querulous rows awaiting dislocation
I will be there too
When you're cashing in your food stamps
When you're sleeping in a cattle train
I'll be with you
Pushing up against the ticket counter window face against the glass
Bleeding from the waist and kissing to be chaste
It is said that those who will not rest have been cursed
To tramp like soldiers through the marshes
Or that blessed are the ones who leave the stage
Like babies falling fast asleep
So I twice am cursed and twice am stuck
Affixed to this corner of the earth.
That old river keeps on rolling but the old man doesn't see it,
He just stands there with his eyes closed
Asking "Where'd you go?" "Where'd you go?"
So wherever you may sleep tonight,
Be it bed or bedrock, home, or open field:
When you begin to yield, then, whatever you have taken as your pillow,
May it serve as mine as well.
Underneath the weeping willow I will wait for you forever,
My eyes forever closed, asking "Where'd you go?" "Where'd you go?"
I will be there too
When you're cashing in your food stamps
When you're sleeping in a cattle train
I'll be with you
Pushing up against the ticket counter window face against the glass
Bleeding from the waist and kissing to be chaste
It is said that those who will not rest have been cursed
To tramp like soldiers through the marshes
Or that blessed are the ones who leave the stage
Like babies falling fast asleep
So I twice am cursed and twice am stuck
Affixed to this corner of the earth.
That old river keeps on rolling but the old man doesn't see it,
He just stands there with his eyes closed
Asking "Where'd you go?" "Where'd you go?"
So wherever you may sleep tonight,
Be it bed or bedrock, home, or open field:
When you begin to yield, then, whatever you have taken as your pillow,
May it serve as mine as well.
Underneath the weeping willow I will wait for you forever,
My eyes forever closed, asking "Where'd you go?" "Where'd you go?"
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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”
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
Definitely about a dead lover stuck on Earth, but unable to communicate. "It is said that those who will not rest have been cursed to tramp like soldiers through the marshes" - she is bound to this in-between state of mortality, trapped in an invisible dimension, forced to watch the one she loves mourn her.
"Or that blessed are the ones who leave the stage like babies falling fast asleep." Could mean two things: it's lucky if you die and get out of this life, or she's jealous of those who have been able to move on past reality and let go of their pain.
"That old river keeps on rolling but the old man doesn't see it, he just stands there with his eyes closed asking: 'where'd you go? Where'd you go?' " - She's always by his side, but he can't see her. She's not there physically. He misses her so much, and little does he know that she's still with him, suffering too.
"so wherever you may sleep tonight, be it bed or bedrock, home, or open field, when your breathing slows and your eyes are closed and you begin to yield, then whatever you have taken as your pillow may it serve as mine as well. underneath the weeping willow I will wait for you forever, my eyes forever closed asking: 'where'd you go? where'd you go?' "
This can either be restating the concept of her being with him always, or it can mean something else. She's with him the most while he's dreaming? She'll be with him while he's dying? And then there's the end, the saddest part...she yearns to talk to him, to reunite with him, to let him know she's there and that she loves him...but all she can do is be a silent observer, and wait. Wait for him to catch up to her. Maybe she finally accepts that and ends up freeing herself. Maybe not.