"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.
We've come, come, to chameleon
In your pubs, clubs
Nah, we don't want no trouble
Sit down Nick, Nick
I'm dirty from my week
Just wanna blend in
And if you wanna find us then
We're gonna run run run all ten blocks
We're gonna run run run to the tube stop
Just try to pull, pull, girls talking on their cells
Saying, "Boys, cowboys, keep your gene pool to yourselves"
Gotta run run run all ten blocks
We gotta run, run, run to the tomb stop
They wanna know
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
I gotta go, go!
Go, go!
Now everyone say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
And say it like you mean it
'Cause it doesn't mean a thing
So it's easier to scream it
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Now say, 'Oakland is never more Oakland
Then when you're lost in London
Say 'Get, get, get our order up
We gotta get get get greased to sober up
Now everyone say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
And say it like you mean it
'Cause it doesn't mean a thing
So it's easier to scream it
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Now say 'get, get, get our order up
We gotta get get get greased to sober up
They wanna know
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
They wanna know, oh:
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
We gotta go, go!
Go, go, gooooo!
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
They wanna know, oh:
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Fuck, we gotta go
In your pubs, clubs
Nah, we don't want no trouble
Sit down Nick, Nick
I'm dirty from my week
Just wanna blend in
And if you wanna find us then
We're gonna run run run all ten blocks
We're gonna run run run to the tube stop
Just try to pull, pull, girls talking on their cells
Saying, "Boys, cowboys, keep your gene pool to yourselves"
Gotta run run run all ten blocks
We gotta run, run, run to the tomb stop
They wanna know
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
I gotta go, go!
Go, go!
Now everyone say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
And say it like you mean it
'Cause it doesn't mean a thing
So it's easier to scream it
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Now say, 'Oakland is never more Oakland
Then when you're lost in London
Say 'Get, get, get our order up
We gotta get get get greased to sober up
Now everyone say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
And say it like you mean it
'Cause it doesn't mean a thing
So it's easier to scream it
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Say 'hey!'
(Hey!)
Now say 'get, get, get our order up
We gotta get get get greased to sober up
They wanna know
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
They wanna know, oh:
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
We gotta go, go!
Go, go, gooooo!
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
They wanna know, oh:
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Who let the Yankees in the chip shop?
Fuck, we gotta go
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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"
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.
i dont think this song needs a whole lot of deciefering, but we shall disect it anyays...
We've come come to chameleon In your pubs/clubs [were trying to fit in]
Now we don't want no trouble So don't nick nick my derby from my wig [??] Just want to blend it [duh]
And if you want to fight us then We're gonna run run run all ten blocks We're gonna run run run to the tube stop [tube stop is a sub way]
Just trying to pull pull girls talking on their cells Saying "Boys/cowboys keep your gene pool to yourselves" [haHAha if you know what a gene pool is (which we all should) then you get it...]
They wanna know Who let the Yankees in the chip shop? They wanna know, ho Who let the Yankees in the chip shop? We gotta go go [Chip Shop= fast food] [yankees= americans]
Everyone say "Hey" and say it like you mean it 'Cause it doesn't mean a thing So it's easier to scream it Now say Oakland in never more Oakland Than when you're lost in London [screw oakland, hello london]
Say get get get our order up We gotta get get grease to sober up [no deciefering needed]
if anyone disagrees, feel free to argue. this is mostly opinion. songmeanings.net is mostly about opinions anyways
Seems like The Matches had themselves one HELL of a good time on their UK tour! By the way...it's a "tube stop" aka: the London subway, not a TOMB stop, which makes no sense! :) But after A Band In Hope drops, London will be BEGGING these Yankees to hang out in ALL their shops.
Haha, you've got me sorted eh? This is really the first Matches album I've got into, and admittedly the lyrics aren't well heard by me. If you give corrections I'll edit them all.
OK! My fave change will be "...keep your GENE POOL to yourselves." Which makes it clearer why the heck they want The Matches out of their chip shop, huh? LOL :) ---Linda
keep your gene pool to yourselves
haHAha greaat line
This song is being made into a musiq video anyways
they were on the cover of AP magazine.
when i saw the matches last night they played this song, Shawn said he wrote it when they was last in the UK, assuming the Biffy Clyro tour. Its about how us English people are alot 'arder than Americans apparently haha.
i absolutely love this song. not totally how to decipher the lyrics though.
The correct lyrics are:
We've come come to chameleon In your pubs/clubs Now we don't want no trouble So don't nick nick my derby from my wig Just want to blend it And if you want to fight us then We're gonna run run run all ten blocks We're gonna run run run to the tube stop Just trying to pull pull girls talking on their cells Saying "Boys/cowboys keep your gene pool to yourselves" They wanna know Who let the Yankees in the chip shop? They wanna know, ho Who let the Yankees in the chip shop? We gotta go go Everyone say "Hey" and say it like you mean it 'Cause it doesn't mean a thing So it's easier to scream it Now say Oakland in never more Oakland Than when you're lost in London Say get get get our order up We gotta get get grease to sober up
Straight outta the album booklet, so you can't argue with em.
Whoops, meant to say "Just want to blend in" not "it" Also just realized that there's a report thread in the forums for this stuff, so apologies to the mods.
Pretty sure they didn't write this on tour with Biffy Clyro as they played this when I saw them on said tour. Then again, I went to the last show of the tour so they might have written it during the tour and played it on the last night.