"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.
It's no big surprise
We turned out this way
It's in our eyes
Like shallow graves
But we are one with the lover and grace
We don't discriminate at all
For what it's worth
[Chorus: ]
So live young, die fast
No one will last
So sit back and relax
Enjoy the crash
You're fading to black and you're gone
Live young, die fast
Die fast
Young easy life
And untimely death
This doesn't work at all for me
So save your breath
You took your time
And stashed it away
Deep down inside of a cardboard box
Marked "rainy day"
[Chorus: ]
And I feel a miracle
In every breath that I breathe
Won't let this miracle
End in tragedy
I sense a miracle
In all that I see
Won't let this miracle
Slip away from me
Live young, die fast
No one will last
So sit back and relax
Enjoy the crash
You're fading to black and it's gone
Live young, die fast
Live young, die fast
Die fast
Live young, die fast
No one will last
So sit back and relax
Enjoy the crash
You're fading to black and it's gone
Live young, die fast
Die fast
We turned out this way
It's in our eyes
Like shallow graves
But we are one with the lover and grace
We don't discriminate at all
For what it's worth
[Chorus: ]
So live young, die fast
No one will last
So sit back and relax
Enjoy the crash
You're fading to black and you're gone
Live young, die fast
Die fast
Young easy life
And untimely death
This doesn't work at all for me
So save your breath
You took your time
And stashed it away
Deep down inside of a cardboard box
Marked "rainy day"
[Chorus: ]
And I feel a miracle
In every breath that I breathe
Won't let this miracle
End in tragedy
I sense a miracle
In all that I see
Won't let this miracle
Slip away from me
Live young, die fast
No one will last
So sit back and relax
Enjoy the crash
You're fading to black and it's gone
Live young, die fast
Live young, die fast
Die fast
Live young, die fast
No one will last
So sit back and relax
Enjoy the crash
You're fading to black and it's gone
Live young, die fast
Die fast
Lyrics submitted by simon_quine, edited by MatSkippa
Live Young, Die Fast Lyrics as written by Derek Grant Daniel Andriano
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Punchline
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Plastic Bag
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
great song...it always reminds me that no one will live forever, even though sometimes we feel invincible.