"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.
Bartender I really did it this time
Broke my parole to have a good time
When I got home it was 6 am
The door was locked so I kicked it in
She was trippin' on the bills
I think she was high on some pills
She threw my shit out into the yard
Then she called me a bum and slapped me real hard
And in my drunken' stuper I did what I shoulda' never done
And now I'm sittin' here, talkin' to you, drunk and on the run
I'm sittin' at a bar on the inside
Waitin' for my ride on the outside
She broke my heart in the trailer park
So I jacked the keys to her f**kin' car
Crashed that piece of shit and stepped away
You know I'll probably get ten years
So just give me beers til' they get here
Yeah I know the sun is comin' up and ya'll are probably gettin' ready for closin' up
But I'm tryin' to drown my soul I'm tired of this life on a dirt road
And everything that I love is gone and I'm tired of hangin' on
She got me sittin' at a bar on the inside waitin' for my ride on the outside
She stole my heart in the trailer park so I jacked the keys to her f**kin' car
Crashed that piece of shit and stepped away
I guess it was meant to be
Romance is misery
So much for memories
And now I'm headed for the penitentiary
See me on tv
The next cop series I am danger
I guess I shoulda' did somethin' 'bout my anger
But I never learned
Real things that don't concern I pour kerosene on everything
I love to watch it burn
You know it's my fault but I wasn't happy it was over
She threw a fit so I crashed that piece of shit
And now I'm goin' back again
Back to the pen to see my friends
And when we all pile out that county van
They're gonna ask me where I've been
I've been at a bar on the inside
And I'm waitin' for my ride on the outside
She stole my heart in the trailer park so I jacked the keys to her f**kin' car
Crashed that piece of shit and then stepped away
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
Well I'm sittin' at a bar on the inside
And I'm waitin' on my ride on the outside
You know I crashed that piece of shit
And then I stepped away
Yeah, I stepped away
You know I crashed that piece of shit
And then I stepped away...
Broke my parole to have a good time
When I got home it was 6 am
The door was locked so I kicked it in
She was trippin' on the bills
I think she was high on some pills
She threw my shit out into the yard
Then she called me a bum and slapped me real hard
And in my drunken' stuper I did what I shoulda' never done
And now I'm sittin' here, talkin' to you, drunk and on the run
I'm sittin' at a bar on the inside
Waitin' for my ride on the outside
She broke my heart in the trailer park
So I jacked the keys to her f**kin' car
Crashed that piece of shit and stepped away
You know I'll probably get ten years
So just give me beers til' they get here
Yeah I know the sun is comin' up and ya'll are probably gettin' ready for closin' up
But I'm tryin' to drown my soul I'm tired of this life on a dirt road
And everything that I love is gone and I'm tired of hangin' on
She got me sittin' at a bar on the inside waitin' for my ride on the outside
She stole my heart in the trailer park so I jacked the keys to her f**kin' car
Crashed that piece of shit and stepped away
I guess it was meant to be
Romance is misery
So much for memories
And now I'm headed for the penitentiary
See me on tv
The next cop series I am danger
I guess I shoulda' did somethin' 'bout my anger
But I never learned
Real things that don't concern I pour kerosene on everything
I love to watch it burn
You know it's my fault but I wasn't happy it was over
She threw a fit so I crashed that piece of shit
And now I'm goin' back again
Back to the pen to see my friends
And when we all pile out that county van
They're gonna ask me where I've been
I've been at a bar on the inside
And I'm waitin' for my ride on the outside
She stole my heart in the trailer park so I jacked the keys to her f**kin' car
Crashed that piece of shit and then stepped away
Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
Well I'm sittin' at a bar on the inside
And I'm waitin' on my ride on the outside
You know I crashed that piece of shit
And then I stepped away
Yeah, I stepped away
You know I crashed that piece of shit
And then I stepped away...
Lyrics submitted by myeyesrbright
Bartender Song Lyrics as written by Jerry D. Chestnut
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Punchline
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Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
This is one of the catchiest songs I've heard in a long time... and not in a bad way either
Perfect white trash song! (in a good way) I Loooovvvvveeee this Song!!!!!!!!! it's just one of those toe tapping songs thats fun to sing and dance too when no one is watching and even when ppl are watching! LOL
hahaa sounds like a life of a drunken mess that has holds grudges. this song is a great fun song. i like the variety of styles of music in the graffiti the world album. these guys are greatt
I agree with juhjuh83 except its catchy in a bad way. Not very catchy at all to be honest.
this song got stuck in my head REAL easy
The original version of this song is much better. Its of there older album. The song title is sittin at a bar. The original has pretty much the same lyrics and feel but has 2 vocalists and the second half sounds more like a rap.
I agree with imsystem the first version is ten times better and i remember my friend showed me this song she was like i love this song i was like its good Kay but uhhh this isn't the first time I've heard it and I was like it came out a long time ago... she didn't beleive me but I looked it up a showed her lol.
I got this song on repeat, i love it
Hank Williams Jr. released a cover of this song. He censored the lyrics by changing them to 'stole her father's truck' and 'crashed that chevrolet'... It sounds dumb by him, for sure!
i fucking hate this stupid song...it's not catchy, it's annoying and every dumb-ass sings along like it perfectly describes their life, when none of them (probably including the artist) has every been in any kind of situation like that