"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'm walking wounded on the ground
But I will stand here tall
If you want a war with me
If you want a war with me
If you want a war with me then bring your bee
If you wanna war with me
If you want war then you've got war
You tried to rip me
But I don't tear and I don't care
My skin is thick now
I learnt these lessons years before
This time I'm ready for your war
I should have put this flame out years ago but you burnt my house down
And I won't move
And as I stand here alone in this dust
I've got nothing left to lose coz
I've seen your ways and
I know your plans
Coz I've been around
And I've seen this place before
I won't do this anymore
But if you want war then you've got war
So pick your friends out
I'll take my place and you'll take yours
Load your guns up
And we'll declare an ex-lovers war
I should have seen this years before
But now I'm ready for your war
I should have closed these borders years ago
But you left me somewhere I know well
And as I stand here in no-mans-land
I contemplate your attack
I've seen your ways and
I know your plans
'Cause I've been around
And I've seen this place before
I won't do this anymore
But if you want war then you've got war
You can try and hurt me
I'll come back for more
I've seen your ways and
I know your plans
'Cause I've been around
And I've seen this place before
I won't do this anymore
But if you want war then you've got war
But if you want war then you've got war
But I will stand here tall
If you want a war with me
If you want a war with me
If you want a war with me then bring your bee
If you wanna war with me
If you want war then you've got war
You tried to rip me
But I don't tear and I don't care
My skin is thick now
I learnt these lessons years before
This time I'm ready for your war
I should have put this flame out years ago but you burnt my house down
And I won't move
And as I stand here alone in this dust
I've got nothing left to lose coz
I've seen your ways and
I know your plans
Coz I've been around
And I've seen this place before
I won't do this anymore
But if you want war then you've got war
So pick your friends out
I'll take my place and you'll take yours
Load your guns up
And we'll declare an ex-lovers war
I should have seen this years before
But now I'm ready for your war
I should have closed these borders years ago
But you left me somewhere I know well
And as I stand here in no-mans-land
I contemplate your attack
I've seen your ways and
I know your plans
'Cause I've been around
And I've seen this place before
I won't do this anymore
But if you want war then you've got war
You can try and hurt me
I'll come back for more
I've seen your ways and
I know your plans
'Cause I've been around
And I've seen this place before
I won't do this anymore
But if you want war then you've got war
But if you want war then you've got war
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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"
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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.
As far as i can see, this is about fighting an oppressive force. The First bit is about him being "beaten" down by them, obviously wounded, but not going to give up against, say, a dictatorial government. Then its just "If you want war with me, then bring on beef". If you wanna fight me, bring it on. "You tried to rip me, but i don't tear and i dont care" This bit is just about how they tried it before, and it worked. But what didn't kill him made him stronger, and he is now ready for war with the oppressive force. I could go on for each section, but i don't have time. Its pretty obvious though, most of it. Just because he says "loved" and "Parents", doesn't mean its about love and relationships.
Love the song though.