"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.
Sham
Yeah, you can call me that
As I walk with the Luddites and my crusty axe
I'm a whole lot removed from the Domini Pax
The pacts with the church and the new poll tax
I haven't got the pox, I've turned twenty-eight
My mate's thirty-one but he's dying from the plague
Life's a bitch right now and I can still hear the hills
Resonate
Watch my carbon vibrate mate
And I'm way down the mine
In another lifetime
But I don't how this canary keeps chirping
And my lungs are tight
When you've got to keep working
What's the point in life
There's a hundred miners here in the union
March through the manor while the owner takes communion
I'm going in to get my wage for last year
Plus a big bag of food
One of them big chandeliers
I affect the state and affect the earth
And pass my spirit on again
Until it's triggered by a birth
I resonate
You Resonate
I say echo
You vibrate
I'm in this for a better life
Staying clever
Got the soldiers on the hop
Slept in the oak tree
Raided a crop
They probably think I'm catholic
'Cause of my name
I caught the King's deer
They were giving me fame
And they heard about my antics
Up at the castle
When I didn't pay my taxes
Down came the hassle
They burnt my village and my family at the stake
I felt the whole ground shake
Why?
'Cause spirits resonate
They want my pagan head
Turn the hunters in my band and that's as good as it gets
We affect
You affect
Everybody move your molecules
From your nails to your follicles
Vibrate
It's eighteen fifty-six
I'm at the workhouse with my bundle of sticks
These people think I'm nuts
But they won't complain
When their lives get better cause of my campaign
Sabotage man with the Guy Fawkes precedent
Burn the city hall - smoke out the residents
Make a mark in my town and adjust my standard of living
Till my pitchfork rusts
Change the chain
Unchain all hands
Latter-day Scargill
I'll affect this land
I come in peace
From a small piece of dark
And I'm going back soon
So for now I'll make marks
Vibrate
Yeah, you can call me that
As I walk with the Luddites and my crusty axe
I'm a whole lot removed from the Domini Pax
The pacts with the church and the new poll tax
I haven't got the pox, I've turned twenty-eight
My mate's thirty-one but he's dying from the plague
Life's a bitch right now and I can still hear the hills
Resonate
Watch my carbon vibrate mate
And I'm way down the mine
In another lifetime
But I don't how this canary keeps chirping
And my lungs are tight
When you've got to keep working
What's the point in life
There's a hundred miners here in the union
March through the manor while the owner takes communion
I'm going in to get my wage for last year
Plus a big bag of food
One of them big chandeliers
I affect the state and affect the earth
And pass my spirit on again
Until it's triggered by a birth
I resonate
You Resonate
I say echo
You vibrate
I'm in this for a better life
Staying clever
Got the soldiers on the hop
Slept in the oak tree
Raided a crop
They probably think I'm catholic
'Cause of my name
I caught the King's deer
They were giving me fame
And they heard about my antics
Up at the castle
When I didn't pay my taxes
Down came the hassle
They burnt my village and my family at the stake
I felt the whole ground shake
Why?
'Cause spirits resonate
They want my pagan head
Turn the hunters in my band and that's as good as it gets
We affect
You affect
Everybody move your molecules
From your nails to your follicles
Vibrate
It's eighteen fifty-six
I'm at the workhouse with my bundle of sticks
These people think I'm nuts
But they won't complain
When their lives get better cause of my campaign
Sabotage man with the Guy Fawkes precedent
Burn the city hall - smoke out the residents
Make a mark in my town and adjust my standard of living
Till my pitchfork rusts
Change the chain
Unchain all hands
Latter-day Scargill
I'll affect this land
I come in peace
From a small piece of dark
And I'm going back soon
So for now I'll make marks
Vibrate
Lyrics submitted by quarter_past_three
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
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
I think this song is about the rebellious streak that occurs in each generation and causes changes for the better: I come in peace From a small piece of dark And I'm going back soon So for now I'll make marks Like something's sent from somewhere else to sort it all out: I affect the state and affect the earth And pass my spirit on again Until it's triggered by a birth
The song seems to be mainly seems to be peasants having a hard time of it. Also the things they refer to - the plague, mining, poll tax, workhouses, happen quite far apart in history, so it's like that this spirit's done in the past to cause change.