"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.
In a motel room, with the Bible out
Combing scriptures for answers about
What's happening now
'Cause I can't believe my eyes
And I just don't trust my ears
But I've heard a man can always come find
Some solace here
And Lord, I know that we don't talk
Often at all anymore
But desperate folks do desperate things
So I'm stapling this note to your door
Please, turn the ship around
And lock the course in place
And keep the train tracks nailed to the ground
Or pull the emergency break
'Cause I've lost my faith in man
Just like I once lost faith in you
And I've been covering all kinds of ground
Thinking hard 'bout what else I could lose
And I know how I look
To come crawling back
Acting like you owe me proof
But this is bigger than me
I think it's bigger than you too
So if this gets to you
Yeah if you ever come home
Just know I won't be awaiting the postman
I will not be glued to my phone
I'll know a change has come
I'll know that you exist
When all our bombs stop exploding
And when all of those landmines are stripped
And we stop blowin' up strangers' houses
And making orphans of innocent kids
And people stop thinking the world's theirs for the taking
'Cause your world once told them it is
'Til then, I'm gonna shake my head
I'm gonna bite my tongue
When people tell me, 'Have faith and be patient,
We're waiting for God to show up.'
Yeah 'til then, it's one more skeptical song
And I'll be glad as hell
If you come and prove me wrong
Combing scriptures for answers about
What's happening now
'Cause I can't believe my eyes
And I just don't trust my ears
But I've heard a man can always come find
Some solace here
And Lord, I know that we don't talk
Often at all anymore
But desperate folks do desperate things
So I'm stapling this note to your door
Please, turn the ship around
And lock the course in place
And keep the train tracks nailed to the ground
Or pull the emergency break
'Cause I've lost my faith in man
Just like I once lost faith in you
And I've been covering all kinds of ground
Thinking hard 'bout what else I could lose
And I know how I look
To come crawling back
Acting like you owe me proof
But this is bigger than me
I think it's bigger than you too
So if this gets to you
Yeah if you ever come home
Just know I won't be awaiting the postman
I will not be glued to my phone
I'll know a change has come
I'll know that you exist
When all our bombs stop exploding
And when all of those landmines are stripped
And we stop blowin' up strangers' houses
And making orphans of innocent kids
And people stop thinking the world's theirs for the taking
'Cause your world once told them it is
'Til then, I'm gonna shake my head
I'm gonna bite my tongue
When people tell me, 'Have faith and be patient,
We're waiting for God to show up.'
Yeah 'til then, it's one more skeptical song
And I'll be glad as hell
If you come and prove me wrong
Lyrics submitted by devinelynew
Lord, I Know We Don't Talk Lyrics as written by Kevin Patrick Devine
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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.
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.
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.
he lost faith in god a long time ago, but now things are so bad he even lost faith in men, so he turns to god again, but in the end he still does not believe in it.
but for me, this song is much more a criticism to religious radicals ("And we stop blowin' up strangers' houses, And making orphans of innocent kids, And people stop thinking the world's theirs for the taking 'Cause your world once told them it is") and religious people that doesn't do anything to make a better world because they're waiting for god to solve everything ("When people tell me, 'Have faith and be patient, We're waiting for God to show up").
to me, it's like the song is to god, whether he believes in him or not. it's so utterly depressing, in the amazing true way about how our world is shaping up. he lost faith in god a long time ago, hoping to find in people. now these people have let him down too. now what does he have left but to turn back to an entity that he already gave up on? disparity at its finest.
I can't believe there are no comments here. This is one of the best songs ever written.
The lyrics to this song are outstanding. Basically I think this song is about how he lost his faith in god and men because of all the war and the fighting going on. He is unsure if god exist but he is praying to him to stop all the awful things happening around him, and if his prayers are answered he knows that god exists so on and so forth...
First I want to say I absolutely love the lyrics to this song. I would have to agree with you halloween413 how it's about how he lost his faith and is somehow trying to get it back, but I get the feeling that he almost doesn't think that is possible. One thing though; in the Bible there are passages where God speaks of war and how sometimes war is necessary. (If you don't believe me look up Ecclesiastes 3:8)
I've seen Kevin Devine perform a bunch of times, and this song is easily one of his best live songs... the best was when the singer from Pablo did a duet with Kevin for this song...gave me the chills
I always thought it was "Cause I've lost my faith in man Just like I almost lost faith in you" i guess now I know i was wrong.
I'm not sure if I'm right but I was listening to a live version and he could have just changed it for the performance but where he usually says "...your world once told them it is." Well, I heard this time "...your book once told them it is."
I just want to point out kevin is an atheist and I have talked to him in length about it. This song isnt meant to be about his own faith but about how people perceive god as real even though if he did exist why would he let all this fighting and horrible acts in his name continue?
I personally don't believe but thats not whats important, whats important is that this is a good song. :]
I don't mean to start a religious debate- but I think he is like me, an agnostic. He wants to believe in a higher power, but sometimes circumstance makes him question how much we can really attribute to one person that is allegedly in control of everything that happens. Afterall, what we see is much more convincing than anything metaphysical- at least in my experience.