"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.
The city keeps on going, on.
Float down the river with my Iddy and Jay ?
Get off the boat and board a plan to J-K-F and I, ain't slept a week
But it don't seem to matter to the subway squeakers, squeak (and squeak)
The city keeps on going
We just keep on rolling
The city keeps on going
We just keep on rolling, on.
Grand Central Station and got wind they're coming on
And the goodness yesterday ?
No one round oh and I still recognize her
After all these years and she still looks the same
Ah, she still looks the same.
Oh and we end up in Brooklyn
It was rainin' so hard
Come up all day
And the rain to clear it off,
Oh we're just people watching on 3rd and St. Mormons ?
And when the girl's kissing my face, my face
She was just kissing my face
And again, again
Just when I was sick and lonely,
There was a shaking on the ground
We were hiding from the rain
We were riding on the train
Just when I was sick and lonely,
There was a shaking on the ground
Were were hiding from the rain
Were were riding on the train.
She was dancing on the midway
Just kissing my face
She was dancing on the midway
Just kissing my face
Dancing on the midway
Kissing my face
Dancing on the midway
Just waving goodbye.
Float down the river with my Iddy and Jay ?
Get off the boat and board a plan to J-K-F and I, ain't slept a week
But it don't seem to matter to the subway squeakers, squeak (and squeak)
The city keeps on going
We just keep on rolling
The city keeps on going
We just keep on rolling, on.
Grand Central Station and got wind they're coming on
And the goodness yesterday ?
No one round oh and I still recognize her
After all these years and she still looks the same
Ah, she still looks the same.
Oh and we end up in Brooklyn
It was rainin' so hard
Come up all day
And the rain to clear it off,
Oh we're just people watching on 3rd and St. Mormons ?
And when the girl's kissing my face, my face
She was just kissing my face
And again, again
Just when I was sick and lonely,
There was a shaking on the ground
We were hiding from the rain
We were riding on the train
Just when I was sick and lonely,
There was a shaking on the ground
Were were hiding from the rain
Were were riding on the train.
She was dancing on the midway
Just kissing my face
She was dancing on the midway
Just kissing my face
Dancing on the midway
Kissing my face
Dancing on the midway
Just waving goodbye.
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
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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.
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
There lyrics are quite off, you can find accurate lyrics here:
kevin.cafe150.com/only_four_seasons/the_city.txt
my favourite song by Joe Purdy
Here's the correct lyrics per the site above
The city keeps on going on
Float down the river with my Matty D and Jay Get off the boat and board a plane to JFK and I Haven't slept in a week But it don't seem to matter to the subway squeakers squeaking at my feet
The city keeps on going We just keep on rolling The city keeps on going We just keep on rolling on
Grand Central Station got a windy coming down Independence yesterday, ain't no one around Oh I still recognize her after all these years She still looks the same Oh she still looks the same
(chorus)
When we left Brooklyn it was raining so hard Come up on 8th and the rain it cleared off We're just people watching on 3rd and St. Mark's Wendy girl just kissing my face, my face She was just kissing my face
(chorus x2)
Just when I was sick and down There was a shaking on the ground We were hiding from the rain, we were riding on the train Just when I was sinking down There was a shaking on the ground We were hiding from the rain, we were riding on the train
She was dancing on the midway Just kissing my face She was dancing on the midway
This song to me revolves around two things... his love for the city and the girl that's living in it. It's like a story. Joe Purdy seems to be more familiar with the country as stated in his previous songs. So in this song it's hard not to assume that he's traveling to a city he's never been to before. So pretty much he's describing a situation in which he goes to this city and see's a girl he's been in love with and that nothing has changed about her. He describes that the city keeps "going" and what's beautiful about that is that he's saying as life goes on, she never seems to loose her beauty.
That's just my take on the song!