"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.
If I had a hammer,
I'd hammer in the morning,
I'd hammer in the evening,
All over this land,
I'd hammer out danger,
I'd hammer out a warning,
I'd hammer out love between,
My brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
If I had a bell,
I'd ring it in the morning,
I'd ring it in the evening,
All over this land,
I'd ring out danger,
I'd ring out a warning,
I'd ring out love between,
My brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
If I had a song
I'd sing it in the morning
I'd sing it in the evening
All over this land
It's a song of ?
It's a song of ?
It's a song about love between
My brothers and my sisters
All over this land
Well, I've got a hammer
And I've got a bell
And I've got a song to sing
All over this land
It's the hammer of justice
It's the bell of freedom
It's a song about love between my
Brothers and my sisters
All over this land
I'd hammer in the morning,
I'd hammer in the evening,
All over this land,
I'd hammer out danger,
I'd hammer out a warning,
I'd hammer out love between,
My brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
If I had a bell,
I'd ring it in the morning,
I'd ring it in the evening,
All over this land,
I'd ring out danger,
I'd ring out a warning,
I'd ring out love between,
My brothers and my sisters,
All over this land.
If I had a song
I'd sing it in the morning
I'd sing it in the evening
All over this land
It's a song of ?
It's a song of ?
It's a song about love between
My brothers and my sisters
All over this land
Well, I've got a hammer
And I've got a bell
And I've got a song to sing
All over this land
It's the hammer of justice
It's the bell of freedom
It's a song about love between my
Brothers and my sisters
All over this land
Lyrics submitted by kaleidoscopeeyes8, edited by mermy96
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"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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”
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
The Hammer represents the symbol of communism (the hammer and sickle), and the Bell of Freedom the Freedom Bell, given as a gift from the Americans to Germany to represent the fight of freedom against communism. The writer is encouraging peace between the two conflicting ideas at the time, and, even currently.
no, sorry, it is not an anti-communist song. Also it was written before the freedom bell was even made. The hammer and bell are both symbols of the work place. The song alludes to them being used as calls-for-actions. So it alludes to the labor movement and the struggle to equality.
I wasn't saying it was "anti" communist, I was saying it was pro-communist if anything. And the song written in 1949 and the bell came out in 1950? That's pretty close! But... with that said, I do think that you're probably right.
Why do they want to hammer "out" love? Don't they want it hammered "in"?
I think you have a point there.
The "Hammer" in this song is a metaphor for POWER, and a call to use that power to promote love and fight Injustice.
"If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)" is a song written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays. It was written in 1949 in support of the progressive movement. and was first recorded by The Weavers, a folk music quartet composed of Seeger, Hays, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman.
The United States Progressive Party of 1948 was a left-wing political party that served as a vehicle for former Vice President Henry A. Wallace's 1948 presidential campaign. The party sought desegregation, the establishment of a national health insurance system, an expansion of the welfare system, and the nationalization of the energy industry. The party also sought conciliation with the Soviet Union during the early stages of the Cold War.
The Freedom Bell (in German, Freiheitsglocke) in Berlin, Germany, is a bell that was given as a gift from Americans to the city of Berlin in 1950 as a symbol of anti-communism, and was inspired by the American Liberty Bell.
Hammer of Justice - To do right by the people Progressive Movement such as desegregation, nationalization of the energy industry healthcare for all Bell of Freedom - Basic freedoms all people should have and referencing the Freedom Bell as a sign of Anti-Communism
Song about love for all men.
Get the Trini Lopez version
hmm hard to think there was a time when the youth idolized peace, love etc etc. Nowdays being a selfish asshole seems to be the thing.
The youth hardly have a corner on that market. Far from it, in fact.
Aww, that's not true, Durango. You're just not meetin' the right people.
"Hammer out" in the creative sense--creating a rhythm, sounding a call.
Durango, you're so wrong. I can think of at least five fifteen-year-olds who value peace, love, etc.
So why does so much of the music of today say the opposite? I don't know, I just don't see a song like "If I Had a Hammer" ever flying with today's youth. It would most likely be laughed at and mocked, by and large. Yes, I know that there are youths that have the right values. I just wish that the popular so-called "artists" of today would produce something that reflects those values, instead of the cheap Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Bow Wow, Pink, etc. trash that passes for "musical expression" these days. I find it sad.
dude. you're looking at mainstream culture. i'm not so sure pete seeger (dude who wrote this song) was all that mainstream. like his peers, he was blacklisted for his communist beliefs. you gotta look past the mainstream to find the good shit advocating for a better world.
A hammer and a bell marks time...every hour on the hour. He's awaiting peace.
Great song. Meaning is abundantly clear.