"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.
Beauty over wisdom to fit in with their style
Your Cinderella story's for a price
Vanity's a business built to fleece the unique
Silicon and stars collide, the rest will fall in line
Just as beautiful as you are
It's so pitiful what you are
You should have seen this coming all along
Visually you're stimulating to my eyes
Your Cinderella syndrome's full of lies
Your insecurities are concealed by your pride
Pretty soon your ego will kill what's left inside
Just as beautiful as you are
It's so pitiful what you are
You should have seen this coming all along
It's so pitiful what you are
As beautiful as you are
You should have seen this coming all along
You're everything that's so typical
Maybe you're alone for a reason, you're the reason
So pitiful what you are
Should have seen this coming all along
Just as beautiful as you are
It's so pitiful what you are
You should have seen this coming all along
It's so pitiful what you are
As beautiful as you are
Should have seen this coming all along
Your Cinderella story's for a price
Vanity's a business built to fleece the unique
Silicon and stars collide, the rest will fall in line
Just as beautiful as you are
It's so pitiful what you are
You should have seen this coming all along
Visually you're stimulating to my eyes
Your Cinderella syndrome's full of lies
Your insecurities are concealed by your pride
Pretty soon your ego will kill what's left inside
Just as beautiful as you are
It's so pitiful what you are
You should have seen this coming all along
It's so pitiful what you are
As beautiful as you are
You should have seen this coming all along
You're everything that's so typical
Maybe you're alone for a reason, you're the reason
So pitiful what you are
Should have seen this coming all along
Just as beautiful as you are
It's so pitiful what you are
You should have seen this coming all along
It's so pitiful what you are
As beautiful as you are
Should have seen this coming all along
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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”
Magical
Ed Sheeran
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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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
To me, the song is about a good-looking girl who isn't worth being with. She's full of herself and stupid(or is just continually making the same mistakes) to the point that he, and everyone else, doesn't want to be with her.