"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.
No, I never cry
Never never never cry
Since I found a home,
I'm free to fly
No more loneliness
I'm comin' from a new address
Now I found some hearts
That are on my wavelength
So come this way, it's tres gentile
Get on up to the barbecue
Just paper plates and you'll find that we ain't
Fancy people with attitudes
(But if you're gonna)
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Come let's sway around
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Move your head around
Feel the rhythm and you
You can do no wrong
Soul dancin' all summer long
I want you to know
Now that I'm about to go
That your party saved me,
And moved my soul
There's so much sweetness
Wellin' up inside my chest
That I'll remember
When I'm far away
She said, "I'll still be here when you get back
So take care of yourself and crew
And oh my word, all those giggly girls
Goin' boy crazy at you"
(But if you're gonna)
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Come let's sway around
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Move your head around
Feel the rhythm and you
You can do no wrong
Soul dancin' all summer long
(Stay a little bit, stay a little bit longer)
Can you feel it, yeah
(Stay a little bit, stay a little bit longer)
You can do no wrong
(Stay a little bit, stay a little bit longer)
Stay a little bit...longer...
Don't you wanna stay, don't just stay
But come this way, and you'll find that we ain't
Fancy people with attitudes
(But if you're gonna)
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Come let's sway around
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Move your head around
Feel the rhythm and you
You can do no wrong
Soul dancin' all summer long
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Come let's sway around
Soul dancin' all, all around
Soul dancin' all summer long...
All around, all around...
Soul dancin' all summer long...
Never never never cry
Since I found a home,
I'm free to fly
No more loneliness
I'm comin' from a new address
Now I found some hearts
That are on my wavelength
So come this way, it's tres gentile
Get on up to the barbecue
Just paper plates and you'll find that we ain't
Fancy people with attitudes
(But if you're gonna)
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Come let's sway around
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Move your head around
Feel the rhythm and you
You can do no wrong
Soul dancin' all summer long
I want you to know
Now that I'm about to go
That your party saved me,
And moved my soul
There's so much sweetness
Wellin' up inside my chest
That I'll remember
When I'm far away
She said, "I'll still be here when you get back
So take care of yourself and crew
And oh my word, all those giggly girls
Goin' boy crazy at you"
(But if you're gonna)
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Come let's sway around
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Move your head around
Feel the rhythm and you
You can do no wrong
Soul dancin' all summer long
(Stay a little bit, stay a little bit longer)
Can you feel it, yeah
(Stay a little bit, stay a little bit longer)
You can do no wrong
(Stay a little bit, stay a little bit longer)
Stay a little bit...longer...
Don't you wanna stay, don't just stay
But come this way, and you'll find that we ain't
Fancy people with attitudes
(But if you're gonna)
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Come let's sway around
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Move your head around
Feel the rhythm and you
You can do no wrong
Soul dancin' all summer long
Stay, don't just stay (Don't just stay)
Come let's sway around
Soul dancin' all, all around
Soul dancin' all summer long...
All around, all around...
Soul dancin' all summer long...
Lyrics submitted by Skibz777
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
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.