"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.
Light as a feather when I'm floating through
Reading through the daily news
Measuring the hurt within the golden rule
Centimeters in ether, I'm heating the speaker
Motivational teacher with words that burn people
Seeing the headlines lined with discord and
See the genocide or the planet in uproar
Never good, the rules of paradise are never nice
The best laid plans of mice and men are never right
I'm just a vagabond with flowers for Algernon
The average joe who knows what the fuck is going on
It's the hope of my thoughts that I travel upon
Fly like an arrow of God until I'm gone
So,
Drifting away like a feather in air
Letting my words take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm keeping it vertical, forever elevator
Riding the escalator to the something that is greater
So I'm drifting away like a feather in air
Letting my soul take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm, keeping it vertical, forever elevator
Riding the escalator to the something that's greater
Taking chances, word tap dancing with wolves
In an ice arena out there deep in the woods of
Arizona, the sun be high, life's ironic
Ain't it trying to be Dalà when I write
Surreal life, I paint it vivid
Habitat, crazy insane
Watching propaganda 6 o'clock news that are insane
Cultures clash, for black folk and white trash
They revel in the cyberspace that might crash, dash
To millennium a million miles of running
At the speed of now back, don't return gunning
Rambo style, gung ho child gunning
Ammo, *Blaow*, two times loud stunning (stunning)
When it hit ya, lift ya right off the Earth like
Ayo, take ya back right to birth and
Niggas wonder why, they might wonder why
This shit might happen, but it does
They go,
Drifting away like a feather in air
Letting my words take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm keeping it vertical, forever elevator
Riding the escalator to the something that is greater
So I'm drifting away like a feather in air
Letting my soul take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm, keeping it vertical, forever elevator
Riding the escalator to the something that's greater
Treat you better than me, cause that's the heavenly key
To unlock the inner strength where my essence will be
It's the knowledge of self, understanding of the things around me
That becomes the wisdom that I need
Living this life to the best of my ability
Channeling energy to my thoughts into your symmetry
Remember me, because my clothes remain gold
I got the gift to gab like them pimps in Kangol
It never ends, I keep it ruling like a cypher
The first cave man bringing fire
Innovating it higher; To blast mistakes, I raise the stakes
It's double or nothing in this vacuumless space
I will, survive, divine the time to cry,
Fuck a hold or hide, I'm alive with pride
And I, drove the Chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry
Singing, "this will be the day that I die"
Reading through the daily news
Measuring the hurt within the golden rule
Centimeters in ether, I'm heating the speaker
Motivational teacher with words that burn people
Seeing the headlines lined with discord and
See the genocide or the planet in uproar
Never good, the rules of paradise are never nice
The best laid plans of mice and men are never right
I'm just a vagabond with flowers for Algernon
The average joe who knows what the fuck is going on
It's the hope of my thoughts that I travel upon
Fly like an arrow of God until I'm gone
So,
Drifting away like a feather in air
Letting my words take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm keeping it vertical, forever elevator
Riding the escalator to the something that is greater
So I'm drifting away like a feather in air
Letting my soul take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm, keeping it vertical, forever elevator
Riding the escalator to the something that's greater
Taking chances, word tap dancing with wolves
In an ice arena out there deep in the woods of
Arizona, the sun be high, life's ironic
Ain't it trying to be Dalà when I write
Surreal life, I paint it vivid
Habitat, crazy insane
Watching propaganda 6 o'clock news that are insane
Cultures clash, for black folk and white trash
They revel in the cyberspace that might crash, dash
To millennium a million miles of running
At the speed of now back, don't return gunning
Rambo style, gung ho child gunning
Ammo, *Blaow*, two times loud stunning (stunning)
When it hit ya, lift ya right off the Earth like
Ayo, take ya back right to birth and
Niggas wonder why, they might wonder why
This shit might happen, but it does
They go,
Drifting away like a feather in air
Letting my words take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm keeping it vertical, forever elevator
Riding the escalator to the something that is greater
So I'm drifting away like a feather in air
Letting my soul take me away from the hurt and despair
So I'm, keeping it vertical, forever elevator
Riding the escalator to the something that's greater
Treat you better than me, cause that's the heavenly key
To unlock the inner strength where my essence will be
It's the knowledge of self, understanding of the things around me
That becomes the wisdom that I need
Living this life to the best of my ability
Channeling energy to my thoughts into your symmetry
Remember me, because my clothes remain gold
I got the gift to gab like them pimps in Kangol
It never ends, I keep it ruling like a cypher
The first cave man bringing fire
Innovating it higher; To blast mistakes, I raise the stakes
It's double or nothing in this vacuumless space
I will, survive, divine the time to cry,
Fuck a hold or hide, I'm alive with pride
And I, drove the Chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry
Singing, "this will be the day that I die"
Lyrics submitted by puppiesyay, edited by alfonse1618
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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."
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.
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.
"insane coaches clash"
"Coaches" should probably be "Cultures".