"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.
See, I've been here for 28 years
Poundin' sweat beneath these wheels
We tattooed lines beneath our skin
No surrender, my Bobby Jean
See, I've been here for 28 years
Poundin' sweat beneath these wheels
We tattooed lines beneath our skin
No surrender, my Bobby Jean
And we've been burned by all our fears
Just from growin' up around here
Our father's factories marked our cards
While Eden burned against the stars
And Sally said, Sally said
"I can't take no more regret"
It cut us deep into our souls
Came and climbed into our bed
And Sally said, Sally said
"Meet me by the river's edge"
We're going to wash these sins away
Or else we won't come back again
You know I had these ballroom dreams
That, as a child came to me
I was a boy in Grandma's arms
A mother's pride and a wounded heart
And I was full with fiery wonder
You wore Audrey Hepburn pearls
You were the only one who understood me then
You're the only one who will
And Sally said, Sally said
"I can't take no more regret"
It cut us deep into our souls
Came and climbed into our bed
And Sally said, Sally said
"Meet me by the river's edge"
We're going to wash these sins away
Or else we won't come back again
And now I drive the one-oh-one
On a California night
And I'm amazed at all the stars
Beneath that old Hollywood sign
And they waltz the ballet up the boulevard
To a place we never kept
And I'm not sure if we belong here
If I never really left or if I can go home
And Sally said, Sally said
"I can't take no more regret"
It cut us deep into our souls
Came and climbed into our bed
And Sally said, Sally said
"Meet me by the river's edge"
We're going to wash these sins away
Or else we won't come back again
No retreat, no regrets
No retreat, no regrets
No retreat, no regrets
Meet me by the river's edge
No retreat, no regrets
No retreat, no regrets
No retreat, no regrets
Meet me by the river's edge
Poundin' sweat beneath these wheels
We tattooed lines beneath our skin
No surrender, my Bobby Jean
See, I've been here for 28 years
Poundin' sweat beneath these wheels
We tattooed lines beneath our skin
No surrender, my Bobby Jean
And we've been burned by all our fears
Just from growin' up around here
Our father's factories marked our cards
While Eden burned against the stars
And Sally said, Sally said
"I can't take no more regret"
It cut us deep into our souls
Came and climbed into our bed
And Sally said, Sally said
"Meet me by the river's edge"
We're going to wash these sins away
Or else we won't come back again
You know I had these ballroom dreams
That, as a child came to me
I was a boy in Grandma's arms
A mother's pride and a wounded heart
And I was full with fiery wonder
You wore Audrey Hepburn pearls
You were the only one who understood me then
You're the only one who will
And Sally said, Sally said
"I can't take no more regret"
It cut us deep into our souls
Came and climbed into our bed
And Sally said, Sally said
"Meet me by the river's edge"
We're going to wash these sins away
Or else we won't come back again
And now I drive the one-oh-one
On a California night
And I'm amazed at all the stars
Beneath that old Hollywood sign
And they waltz the ballet up the boulevard
To a place we never kept
And I'm not sure if we belong here
If I never really left or if I can go home
And Sally said, Sally said
"I can't take no more regret"
It cut us deep into our souls
Came and climbed into our bed
And Sally said, Sally said
"Meet me by the river's edge"
We're going to wash these sins away
Or else we won't come back again
No retreat, no regrets
No retreat, no regrets
No retreat, no regrets
Meet me by the river's edge
No retreat, no regrets
No retreat, no regrets
No retreat, no regrets
Meet me by the river's edge
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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
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
+1 for Bruce Springsteen references