"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.
They'll build statues in our likeness
They wanted to be like us
But did they ever like us anyway?
(We always) gave 'em the cold shoulder
Our shoulders just got colder
They deserve an elbow to the face
I'll build this monument just to tear it down
(Tear it down now)
And dedicate it to this bitter town and this broken sound
(Here we go)
And I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
Yeah, I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
Wish you were here
I'll build a throne Make from the bones
Of those who died searching for gold
Just to find it's found inside our hearts
"What a jip," you'll hear them say
Tossing, turning in their graves
All this time searching in vain for what?
Blowing kisses to the masses
In this ticker-tape parade
We're saints of this backseat
Swear to God, we've got it Make
(Got it Make)
And I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
Yeah, I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
I wish you were here
(Today) we're making history
(Tonight) tonight we'll take it to the streets
(Tomorrow) we'll live in infamy
We're under attack
Pull the knife from my back and hold it to their throats
(To their throats, to their throats)
And I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
Yeah, I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
They'll build statues in our likeness
They wanted to be like us
But did they ever like us anyway?
They wanted to be like us
But did they ever like us anyway?
(We always) gave 'em the cold shoulder
Our shoulders just got colder
They deserve an elbow to the face
I'll build this monument just to tear it down
(Tear it down now)
And dedicate it to this bitter town and this broken sound
(Here we go)
And I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
Yeah, I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
Wish you were here
I'll build a throne Make from the bones
Of those who died searching for gold
Just to find it's found inside our hearts
"What a jip," you'll hear them say
Tossing, turning in their graves
All this time searching in vain for what?
Blowing kisses to the masses
In this ticker-tape parade
We're saints of this backseat
Swear to God, we've got it Make
(Got it Make)
And I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
Yeah, I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
I wish you were here
(Today) we're making history
(Tonight) tonight we'll take it to the streets
(Tomorrow) we'll live in infamy
We're under attack
Pull the knife from my back and hold it to their throats
(To their throats, to their throats)
And I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
Yeah, I'll send postcards to enemies
Make sure to sign and date each one while singing
"Wish you were here"
They'll build statues in our likeness
They wanted to be like us
But did they ever like us anyway?
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
i'm too lazy to send the corrections to the "team of moderators." someone else can? (and btw, this is from the booklet. some of the words in the song aren't in the booklet, but i feel like i'll get bitched at if i put them in, or leave them out. lose/lose situation, i guess? score).
"They'll build statues in our likeness. They wanted to be like us, but did they ever like us anyway? We always gave em' the cold shoulder, Our shoulders just got colder. They deserve an elbow to the face.
I'll build this monument just to tear it down (tear it down now) And dedicate it to this bitter town and this broken sound.
And I'll send postcards to enemies, Made sure to sign and date each one while singing "Wish you were here" Yeah, I'll send postcards to enemies, Made sure to sign and date each one while singing "Wish you were here" ("Wish you were here")
I'll build a throne made from the bones Of those who died searching for gold, Just to find it's found inside our hearts. "What a jip", you'll hear them say, Tossing, turning in their graves. All the time searching in vein for what?
Blowing kisses to the masses in this ticker-tape parade. We're the saints of this back seat, Swear to God we've got it made (got it made).
Today, we're making history. Tonight, we'll take it to the streets. Tomorrow, we'll live in infamy. We're under attack, pull the knife from our backs and hold it to their throats (to their throats, to their throats).
And I'll send postcards to enemies, Made sure to sign and date each one while singing "Wish you were here." Yeah, I'll send postcards to enemies, Made sure to sign and date each one while singing "Wish you were here." ("Wish you were here")
They'll build statues in our likeness. They wanted to be like us, but did they ever like us anyway?"