"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.
Now everybody sleeps
But I haven't done that in the last few week or so
And yeah, I know the remedy
But they ran out yesterday
I can't refill anything
Specially my heart, specially my brain
If I could bottle up this mess
I would do it all again
And I don't wanna know if there's another part of me
Don't wanna feel if I'm alive
Don't wanna smell the bed where you used to sleep
I'm gonna miss it again, miss it again
Just wanna walk away from the ashes
And take the fact that I got burned
And baby, let you know I'm still standing
If you miss it again, miss it again, I'm around
And you, you live down the street
And I watched you through the windows
Draped with sheets so white
And yeah, he looks a lot like me
Is it a comfort or coincidence?
Coincidence that's everything
Specially my eyes, specially my clothes
Does he move you inside out?
Baby, I don't wanna know
I don't wanna know if there's another part of me
Don't wanna feel if I'm alive
Don't wanna smell the bed where you used to sleep
I'm gonna miss it again, miss it again
Just wanna walk away from the ashes
And take the fact that I got burned
And baby, let you know I'm still standing
If you miss it again, miss it again
All the times we fought about, you never said a word about
We were just becoming ships inside of a bottle
Breaking down, sails falling off, trying to stay afloat
Inside a place we can't survive, are we breaking down?
I don't wanna know if there's another part of me
Don't wanna feel if I'm alive
Don't wanna smell the bed where you used to sleep
I'm gonna miss it again, miss it again
Just wanna walk away from the ashes
I can take the fact that I got burned
And baby, let you know I'm still standing
If you miss it again, miss it again, I'm around
But I haven't done that in the last few week or so
And yeah, I know the remedy
But they ran out yesterday
I can't refill anything
Specially my heart, specially my brain
If I could bottle up this mess
I would do it all again
And I don't wanna know if there's another part of me
Don't wanna feel if I'm alive
Don't wanna smell the bed where you used to sleep
I'm gonna miss it again, miss it again
Just wanna walk away from the ashes
And take the fact that I got burned
And baby, let you know I'm still standing
If you miss it again, miss it again, I'm around
And you, you live down the street
And I watched you through the windows
Draped with sheets so white
And yeah, he looks a lot like me
Is it a comfort or coincidence?
Coincidence that's everything
Specially my eyes, specially my clothes
Does he move you inside out?
Baby, I don't wanna know
I don't wanna know if there's another part of me
Don't wanna feel if I'm alive
Don't wanna smell the bed where you used to sleep
I'm gonna miss it again, miss it again
Just wanna walk away from the ashes
And take the fact that I got burned
And baby, let you know I'm still standing
If you miss it again, miss it again
All the times we fought about, you never said a word about
We were just becoming ships inside of a bottle
Breaking down, sails falling off, trying to stay afloat
Inside a place we can't survive, are we breaking down?
I don't wanna know if there's another part of me
Don't wanna feel if I'm alive
Don't wanna smell the bed where you used to sleep
I'm gonna miss it again, miss it again
Just wanna walk away from the ashes
I can take the fact that I got burned
And baby, let you know I'm still standing
If you miss it again, miss it again, I'm around
Lyrics submitted by xxdeadonarrival
Ships in a Bottle Lyrics as written by Hector Delgado Harry Rodrigues
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Hipgnosis Songs Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
To me, this song is about being trapped in a relationship that isn't good for you but you feel you can't leave. You know that its over and the right thing to do is get on with your life ("walk away from the ashes"), but you keep coming back. You don't want to be back in their bed, but you end up there anyways and it just makes you miss them all over again. You never thought it would be so hard to end it and move on, but now you're trapped and everything is falling apart ("breakin' down, sails fallin off...") but for some reason you keep trying to make it work ("...trying to stay afloat inside a place we can't survive") I have a tattoo of this song, its a clipper ship in a bottle going up the side of my ribs. I got it when I thought I finally broke out of my bottle, so to speak. I didn't.