"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.
Tell me I'm wrong, tell me I'm indestructible
Tell me my faults, tell me I'm lying to myself
Tell me I'm wrong, tell me what's happened to all my friends
I've been lying here for the longest time
And I don't know where it ends
But I hope you made it long enough
'Cause I'm never gonna wait for someone else
You need to know that's why
We're the ones that bring this on ourselves
Maybe in time, maybe we'll get all over this
Maybe in time, we'll get back to a place
Where you can safely
Tell me I'm wrong, I hope you can say all this to me
Tell me my faults, it's all you can say
It's all you can say
At this moment where I lost control
And you happen to be there
And I hope it lasted long enough
'Cause I'm never gonna wait for someone else
You need to know that's why
We're the ones that bring this on ourselves, don't walk away
'Cause I'm never gonna wait for someone else
This world will always let you down
But rest assured, I'm on it too
Singing it, oh, oh, oh, oh
'Cause I'm never gonna wait for someone else
You need to know that's why
We're the ones that bring this on ourselves, don't walk away
'Cause I'm never gonna wait for someone else
You need to know that I'm never gonna wait for someone else
Tell me my faults, tell me I'm lying to myself
Tell me I'm wrong, tell me what's happened to all my friends
I've been lying here for the longest time
And I don't know where it ends
But I hope you made it long enough
'Cause I'm never gonna wait for someone else
You need to know that's why
We're the ones that bring this on ourselves
Maybe in time, maybe we'll get all over this
Maybe in time, we'll get back to a place
Where you can safely
Tell me I'm wrong, I hope you can say all this to me
Tell me my faults, it's all you can say
It's all you can say
At this moment where I lost control
And you happen to be there
And I hope it lasted long enough
'Cause I'm never gonna wait for someone else
You need to know that's why
We're the ones that bring this on ourselves, don't walk away
'Cause I'm never gonna wait for someone else
This world will always let you down
But rest assured, I'm on it too
Singing it, oh, oh, oh, oh
'Cause I'm never gonna wait for someone else
You need to know that's why
We're the ones that bring this on ourselves, don't walk away
'Cause I'm never gonna wait for someone else
You need to know that I'm never gonna wait for someone else
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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”
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
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.
good song but no real clue about the meaning