"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.
Maybe it's just, that we met
up, under fuzz terms
Or maybe the universe's
playing jokes on us
Try to keep my light on
Try to keep my light on for you
Oh boy did you know?
I got my feet on the ground
You would not know me now
Gotta keep my world in check
Believe me when I say it's over
'Cause I know [ x3 ]
I tried but I can't fake it
I see you calling
But I know
I can't take it
After covering all those bases
Been here before you should know
You can't have it all
Looking back now
I can see I made some mistakes
Apologizing when you were wrong
Then pain for your place
Cut my heart open
I layed it all out now
I changed the locks you know
I got my feet on the ground
You would not know me
Gotta keep my world in check
Believe me when I say its
over 'Cause I know [ x3 ]
I tried but I can't fake it
I see you calling
But I know
I can't take it
After covering all those bases
Been here before you should know
You can't have it all
Been here before you should know
You can't have it all
Oh you know you left me sideways
I'm done with all your
highs and goodbyes babe
Sometimes the stars don't
allign and it's okay
Yeah we're broken oh you can't take it
I tried but I can't fake it
I see you calling
But I know I can't take it
After covering all those bases
Been here before you should know
You can't have it all
Been here before you should know
You can't have it all
up, under fuzz terms
Or maybe the universe's
playing jokes on us
Try to keep my light on
Try to keep my light on for you
Oh boy did you know?
I got my feet on the ground
You would not know me now
Gotta keep my world in check
Believe me when I say it's over
'Cause I know [ x3 ]
I tried but I can't fake it
I see you calling
But I know
I can't take it
After covering all those bases
Been here before you should know
You can't have it all
Looking back now
I can see I made some mistakes
Apologizing when you were wrong
Then pain for your place
Cut my heart open
I layed it all out now
I changed the locks you know
I got my feet on the ground
You would not know me
Gotta keep my world in check
Believe me when I say its
over 'Cause I know [ x3 ]
I tried but I can't fake it
I see you calling
But I know
I can't take it
After covering all those bases
Been here before you should know
You can't have it all
Been here before you should know
You can't have it all
Oh you know you left me sideways
I'm done with all your
highs and goodbyes babe
Sometimes the stars don't
allign and it's okay
Yeah we're broken oh you can't take it
I tried but I can't fake it
I see you calling
But I know I can't take it
After covering all those bases
Been here before you should know
You can't have it all
Been here before you should know
You can't have it all
Lyrics submitted by brendalol
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
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.
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.
i think it's about an exboyfriend who still wants to be with her she is saying she is done with all the trouble they had before and don't want to go there again.. she says she is sorry that their relationship didnt work (even tho she tried) but "sometimes you can't have it all", and there is nothing they can do about it but end it for good
the beginning reminds me of that paris hilton song,,the stars are blind one (the "ayyyy ayyy ayyy ayy") i think this is such a strong, i mean i'd take the call, but then again she did the breaking up...but still...maybe i'm weak when it comes to this stuff. i love it, even though i'm down i can manage to listen to it without crying.
This is a lovely song :) it's about how she's grown up really, and it's happy, because she's over the way her ex boyfriend treated her.
The Correct lyric is
'Maybe it's just that we met up under FALSE terms'.
I think this is about A girl who was in love with a boy, but he treated her badly, and she's basically telling him, you can't have it all.
Is about a relationship where she is finally done and he doesn't want to break up, but she tells him "believe me when i say is over". It was a sick relationship, he treated her bad and make her feel wrong then she apologized to him. One day she finally realized is bad for her to be with him, he only puts her down. She sings "oh u know u left me sideways, i'm done with all your highs and goodbyes babe" - it's like u always treated me wrong but HEY!!!! i'm so tired of your highs and lows, i can't take it no more - "sometimes the stars don't align and it's ok, yeah we broken oh you can't take it" - it's ok, we're no longer a relationship, we can live, oh you can't take it, i'm sorry, it's because she really tried to keep the light on on him, but she got tired.
aside undiscovered, can't have it all is her best ballad break up song. Her voice sounds perfectly perfect. You can relate to lyrics, at least me. The music is catchy. I want more music from her.