"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.
I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
If I had the money to go
To a record store I would, I, I would
If I had the money to go
To a record store I would, I, I would
Go to the record store
Go to the record store
Go to the record store
Put the records in my clothes
Go to the record store
Go to the record store
[Incomprehensible] record
Go past that record man
Go to a record store
Put it in my clothes
And walk past that record man
Got to have the sticky hands
Your ass is broke
Your ass is broke
Like me, like me
Go to that record store
Steal some record, man
Go to that record store
Steal some records, man
I'm telling you I'm broke
I'm telling you I'm broke
But I'm surviving and
And I can cope
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Gotta do what you gotta do
To survive
Gotta take what you gotta take
To stay alive
Gotta do what you gotta do
To survive
Gotta make what you gotta make
To stay alive
It's 8 o' clock
And I got nothing to do
Can't go to the club
So I guess I'll go to the record store
Visit my record man
With my sticky hands
Walk out that record door
Put your records in my clothes
The records in my clothes
What the fuck is you gonna do?
What the fuck is you gonna do
About it? Nothing
Push it, push it, push it, push it
Push it, push it, push it, push it
Push it, push it, push it, push it
Push it, push it, push it, push it
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
If I had the money to go
To a record store I would, I, I would
If I had the money to go
To a record store I would, I, I would
Go to the record store
Go to the record store
Go to the record store
Put the records in my clothes
Go to the record store
Go to the record store
[Incomprehensible] record
Go past that record man
Go to a record store
Put it in my clothes
And walk past that record man
Got to have the sticky hands
Your ass is broke
Your ass is broke
Like me, like me
Go to that record store
Steal some record, man
Go to that record store
Steal some records, man
I'm telling you I'm broke
I'm telling you I'm broke
But I'm surviving and
And I can cope
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Yeah, I'm a hustler, baby
That's what my daddy's made me
Gotta do what you gotta do
To survive
Gotta take what you gotta take
To stay alive
Gotta do what you gotta do
To survive
Gotta make what you gotta make
To stay alive
It's 8 o' clock
And I got nothing to do
Can't go to the club
So I guess I'll go to the record store
Visit my record man
With my sticky hands
Walk out that record door
Put your records in my clothes
The records in my clothes
What the fuck is you gonna do?
What the fuck is you gonna do
About it? Nothing
Push it, push it, push it, push it
Push it, push it, push it, push it
Push it, push it, push it, push it
Push it, push it, push it, push it
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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"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
the videoclip is great! \o/