"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.
Steven, I love you, I can't grow past you,
I'm, homesick in spite of the place
that I fostered and styled to raise this child
who keeps me in pitch and in pace
But I miss reaching for the lasers,
the sound of the beat as it clicks away,
classes, school behavior.
sweating the night out of the sky,
learning to laugh and not ask why.
Steven, I missed you,
the whole world kissed you.
You shot up in bloom like a fern
that was spotted and black,
with the leaves swirled backwards,
as same trick too easy to turn.
Should I change my name and move to the country?
A life full of children and animals,
white fences, landed gentry.
Maybe I want to be myself,
but I am somebody else.
Nine months later, I'm the lonely one,
with all the fruit of labor and half of the fun.
(just like) crisp and cozy in the rising sun,
we've got a heart of gold, man, it beats like a drum.
It shakes, the pebbles are cracking and break,
(the kid logic) dissolves and it all starts to give away,
then nothing is ever the same,
I can't stand it.
I want to be myself,
but I am somebody else
Steven, I'm watching the world get boring,
there's too much restraint in the mix.
I'd be overly flattered to feel so shattered to,
have something broken and fixed.
But i know the world outside is knocking
the dream, the drive or the pedigree.
The forces interlocking,
well, maybe I want to be myself,
but I am somebody else.
Nine months later, I'm the lonely one,
with all the fruit of labor and half of the fun.
Just like crisp and cozy in the rising sun,
he's got a heart of gold, man, it beats like a drum.
It shakes, the pebbles are cracking and break,
(the kid logic) dissolves and it all starts to give away,
and nothing is ever the same,
I can't stand it.
I want to be myself,
but I am somebody else
And you'll never harbor someone like me,
if you'll never leave then you'll never see.
I swear that I will pull you from the wreckage
of this sunday, monday routine.
I will pull you from the wreckage.
oh, don't you need me on my own.
Cos you and me,
we're two of a kind.
We're two of a kind.
Steven, I love you, I can't grow past you,
I got nothing left to give to you.
I'm, homesick in spite of the place
that I fostered and styled to raise this child
who keeps me in pitch and in pace
But I miss reaching for the lasers,
the sound of the beat as it clicks away,
classes, school behavior.
sweating the night out of the sky,
learning to laugh and not ask why.
Steven, I missed you,
the whole world kissed you.
You shot up in bloom like a fern
that was spotted and black,
with the leaves swirled backwards,
as same trick too easy to turn.
Should I change my name and move to the country?
A life full of children and animals,
white fences, landed gentry.
Maybe I want to be myself,
but I am somebody else.
Nine months later, I'm the lonely one,
with all the fruit of labor and half of the fun.
(just like) crisp and cozy in the rising sun,
we've got a heart of gold, man, it beats like a drum.
It shakes, the pebbles are cracking and break,
(the kid logic) dissolves and it all starts to give away,
then nothing is ever the same,
I can't stand it.
I want to be myself,
but I am somebody else
Steven, I'm watching the world get boring,
there's too much restraint in the mix.
I'd be overly flattered to feel so shattered to,
have something broken and fixed.
But i know the world outside is knocking
the dream, the drive or the pedigree.
The forces interlocking,
well, maybe I want to be myself,
but I am somebody else.
Nine months later, I'm the lonely one,
with all the fruit of labor and half of the fun.
Just like crisp and cozy in the rising sun,
he's got a heart of gold, man, it beats like a drum.
It shakes, the pebbles are cracking and break,
(the kid logic) dissolves and it all starts to give away,
and nothing is ever the same,
I can't stand it.
I want to be myself,
but I am somebody else
And you'll never harbor someone like me,
if you'll never leave then you'll never see.
I swear that I will pull you from the wreckage
of this sunday, monday routine.
I will pull you from the wreckage.
oh, don't you need me on my own.
Cos you and me,
we're two of a kind.
We're two of a kind.
Steven, I love you, I can't grow past you,
I got nothing left to give to you.
Lyrics submitted by reutc, edited by EmmaBlwgns
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"
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”
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.
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.
it's "sunday, monday routine" for sure ... i love that line.