"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.
Begin to hope
And all the colors start to change beneath the light
you might forget that the worlds so sad
You might forget that things are awful bad
And it's alright
If you eat all the apples from the knowledge tree bowl
The fact that they're plastic shouldn't deter you at all
Just grab your sharpie and write your message on the wall:
"I was here, yeah, I was here."
We know that our whole world is all around us all the time
And still we might forget to stand up straight
We might forget that we should never wait
And it's alright
If we don't let the others make the last calls
The fact that they own us shouldn't deter us at all
Just grab your sharpie and write your message on the wall:
"Yeah, I was here, I was here."
I was here but now I've gone to take a walk
And I won't be back until you know my name
'Cause we're not all the same thing
Begin to hope
And it's alright
if you eat all the apples from the knowledge tree bowl
The fact that they're plastic shouldn't deter you at all
I grab my sharpie and wrote my message on the wall:
"Yeah, Regina was here."
I was here but now I've gone to take a walk
And I won't be back, 'cause its a lovely day
And none of us know how long we've got to stay
Begin to hope
Begin to hope and all the colors start to begin to start
To open all the change beneath the light
And all us start to change beneath the open
All begin to light
And all the colors begin to open
Light and change
Begin to light and hope
And start to change beneath the light
And all the colors start to change beneath
Begin to hope and all the light begin to change
Begin to hope
And all the colors start to change beneath the light
you might forget that the worlds so sad
You might forget that things are awful bad
And it's alright
If you eat all the apples from the knowledge tree bowl
The fact that they're plastic shouldn't deter you at all
Just grab your sharpie and write your message on the wall:
"I was here, yeah, I was here."
We know that our whole world is all around us all the time
And still we might forget to stand up straight
We might forget that we should never wait
And it's alright
If we don't let the others make the last calls
The fact that they own us shouldn't deter us at all
Just grab your sharpie and write your message on the wall:
"Yeah, I was here, I was here."
I was here but now I've gone to take a walk
And I won't be back until you know my name
'Cause we're not all the same thing
Begin to hope
And it's alright
if you eat all the apples from the knowledge tree bowl
The fact that they're plastic shouldn't deter you at all
I grab my sharpie and wrote my message on the wall:
"Yeah, Regina was here."
I was here but now I've gone to take a walk
And I won't be back, 'cause its a lovely day
And none of us know how long we've got to stay
Begin to hope
Begin to hope and all the colors start to begin to start
To open all the change beneath the light
And all us start to change beneath the open
All begin to light
And all the colors begin to open
Light and change
Begin to light and hope
And start to change beneath the light
And all the colors start to change beneath
Begin to hope and all the light begin to change
Begin to hope
Lyrics submitted by Tobold
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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”
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.
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
I think it's really more an assertion that you can create your own sense of reality without depending on someone else's rules or definitions. Thus the image of writing on a blank wall. If she's denying the idea of original sin, it's probably based on the same idea. It's pretty depressing to think that as humans we're already predestined for sin. It's really our attitude and actions that dictate whether or not we're sinful creatures.