"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.
So I sit on this table for one
And pour me a drink that'll last
I'm not drunk I just miss being young
And I grew old too fast
My wife she breaks and she bends
My children they don't understand
I came here tonight in search of a friend
But I'm the invisible man
'Cause I've swallowed my tongue
And I've polished my gun
And I've sat on my secrets for years
With my stiff upper lip
My composure won't slip
And I've hidden each silent salty tear
I sit on this table for one
And I have been here before
It's a little less than I'd had in mind
But I wouldn't ask for more
And my mother she taught me to write
And my father he taught me his trade
And I wish that they could both be here tonight
To see what a mess I've made
'Cause I've swallowed my tongue
And I've polished my gun
And I've sat on my secrets for years
With my stiff upper lip
My composure won't slip
And I've hidden each silent salty tear
My sons and my daughters don't know me at all
I've dug in trenches and put up walls
I whisper I love you each night as they sleep
But no one hears me when I speak
On this table for one
So I sit on this table for one
I won't go till they tell me to leave
Why'd they teach me to follow my dreams
When dreams are all they can be?
And pour me a drink that'll last
I'm not drunk I just miss being young
And I grew old too fast
My wife she breaks and she bends
My children they don't understand
I came here tonight in search of a friend
But I'm the invisible man
'Cause I've swallowed my tongue
And I've polished my gun
And I've sat on my secrets for years
With my stiff upper lip
My composure won't slip
And I've hidden each silent salty tear
I sit on this table for one
And I have been here before
It's a little less than I'd had in mind
But I wouldn't ask for more
And my mother she taught me to write
And my father he taught me his trade
And I wish that they could both be here tonight
To see what a mess I've made
'Cause I've swallowed my tongue
And I've polished my gun
And I've sat on my secrets for years
With my stiff upper lip
My composure won't slip
And I've hidden each silent salty tear
My sons and my daughters don't know me at all
I've dug in trenches and put up walls
I whisper I love you each night as they sleep
But no one hears me when I speak
On this table for one
So I sit on this table for one
I won't go till they tell me to leave
Why'd they teach me to follow my dreams
When dreams are all they can be?
Lyrics submitted by skttrbrain
Table for One. Lyrics as written by Andrew Phillips Michael David Rosenberg
Lyrics © 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
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.
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."
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.
I'm never getting old, never getting married, and never having kids.
If i somehow do, this will probably be the theme song for my mid-life crisis.
A man has build up a family he's not happy with. He didn't say anything for years and did what his wife wanted. He polished his gun cause he thaught evereday that everything is wrong. He is at the point where he can't stand his own lie anymore. He is breaking out, ending the relationship, leaving his family. The children don't understand and the wife she breaks and she bents. He was at the table for one before but now he's not asking for more anymore cause he f*cked it up so badly he'll never be able to make it good again. His sons and daughters don't know him at all cause he was never doing what he wanted to do.
Simply the worst story ever. They told him to follow his dreams but dreams are all they can be. A man who will never get what he's craving for.
Sad... just so f*cking sad....
Welcome to the life of every man who carries the burden of his family with him. We carry our wife, for she "breaks and she bends". Our children laugh and ridicule us. We are told not to break, not to cry, not to say the load is too heavy. We add more and more weight to our backs, knowing that the load will never lighten. Then, some time later, when it seems that it has become to much, you look around for someone to talk to, some way to share the load, or at least receive some support, and you notice that no one is there.
it is a song about never being enough for what you think you need to be, and those who depend on you want you to carry just one more thing. It is not about giving up, but about taking on the extra because no one else will, even if it breaks you.