"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've been away for a long, long time
Tears from the trees fall on sullen lives
Dropped in the wake of a plastic mind
Some kinda love and I heard it's mine
It's the Devil and I can't see you
Split the difference and you can be the same
I've been away for a long, long time
Tears from the trees fall on sullen lives
It's the Devil and I can't see you
Split the difference and you can be the same
Something will be on the minds so undeveloped
So they will leave links to the banks to crack the codes
It's the part of you that stays
Leaving nothing but a stain
Bang
Take you down a peg
(We crash into the rocks below)
(We crash into the rocks below)
No water here
No quarter here
I don't wanna fear you man, oh no
Just wanna have you here
Don't go
I've been away for a long, long time
Tears from the trees fall on sullen lives
Dropped in the wake of a plastic mind
Some kinda love and I heard it's mine
It's the Devil and I can't see you
Split the difference and you can be the same
It's the Devil and I can't see you
Split the difference and you can be the same
It's the Devil and I can't see you
Split the difference and you can be the same
Something will be on the minds so undeveloped
So they will leave links to the banks to crack the codes
It's the part of you that stays (take you down a peg)
Leaving nothing but a stain
Sometimes we'll be laying by the docks so undisturbed
Folding, maybe, leaves on the ground turned brown with age
That's the part of you that stays
That's the part I hope remains
Take you down a peg
Tears from the trees fall on sullen lives
Dropped in the wake of a plastic mind
Some kinda love and I heard it's mine
It's the Devil and I can't see you
Split the difference and you can be the same
I've been away for a long, long time
Tears from the trees fall on sullen lives
It's the Devil and I can't see you
Split the difference and you can be the same
Something will be on the minds so undeveloped
So they will leave links to the banks to crack the codes
It's the part of you that stays
Leaving nothing but a stain
Bang
Take you down a peg
(We crash into the rocks below)
(We crash into the rocks below)
No water here
No quarter here
I don't wanna fear you man, oh no
Just wanna have you here
Don't go
I've been away for a long, long time
Tears from the trees fall on sullen lives
Dropped in the wake of a plastic mind
Some kinda love and I heard it's mine
It's the Devil and I can't see you
Split the difference and you can be the same
It's the Devil and I can't see you
Split the difference and you can be the same
It's the Devil and I can't see you
Split the difference and you can be the same
Something will be on the minds so undeveloped
So they will leave links to the banks to crack the codes
It's the part of you that stays (take you down a peg)
Leaving nothing but a stain
Sometimes we'll be laying by the docks so undisturbed
Folding, maybe, leaves on the ground turned brown with age
That's the part of you that stays
That's the part I hope remains
Take you down a peg
Lyrics submitted by peaceoutside
Devil You Know Lyrics as written by Robert Harold Guy Dave Joseph Dobbyn
Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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."
During their performance at the Glasshouse in February, Rob introduced this song by saying it was about "people who still believe that things like satan and hell exist," or something to that effect.