"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.
Nothing's gonna change my world. (x4)
I'm traveling this maze,
With a javelin,
Taking aim at abdomens,
Stumbling as I guilt trip
From pixie dust particles,
laced with the American way of conformity
I lash out in defense of culture to stimulate dormancy
But i'll rest for a second
And build on my mass collection
Ask questions of worth, since birth
Compile images, styled by each lesson
Cursed with illogical thinking in eyes of society
Crash parties of orthodox
Without the ignorant inviting me
The path I'm destined to walk is widening
But narrow to the close-minded
Hidden by brush and greenery,
I can't see, but my flows find it
Blinded as I step through this forest of activists
Dodging thorns of the norm
Decoding life's puniest form disguises a pasifist
After this confrontation with this beast of regret
A tainted existence is the resort of taking a breath
So i hold back and don't inhale,
To see where life takes me
Elevate flesh to a level of stress 'cause i believe life hates me.
Nothing's gonna change my world. (x4)
Don't stop in a sea of normlessness
And abandoned crowds that stand around
And wait for their performances
I wait in that coul de sac to see what Karma gives
Cause what goes around, comes around,
Holds weight in a lake I'm born to swim
Will I drown due to the obesity of my thought process?
As gravity pulls down to impede my self conquest
Filling my pockets with payments of nonsense
While the cover charge ??? play of my life is ????
At times I stand on the edge of this cliff and forget rap
Before I step across that threshold where ??? bends and splits at
I try to evade the barricades and downplay the mishaps
Convincing myself that the speech isn't related to the syntax
My emotional famine is at an all time height
Where I'm forced to raionalize between comfort and what's right
But when I write I'm comfortable
Pen and compass is the agony
Of the turmoil dinged existence of the Shakespearian tragedy
But does this hero die due to his flaws?
Or will I float in pergatory state before I take the fall
So for now I won't wait it
Trudgin through knee-high satan
Contemplating whether I should stay on this frequency or change the station
Cause now I'm tuned in to ruin
Falling flat on my abstract
Too intimidated to press on
But not depressed enough to backtrack
The story too ??? to be laughed at, too surreal to be realistic
Dangling between an individual and a statistic
Will I see the light at the end of the tunnel
Or has there been an avalanche that closes off the outlet
Snuffing the option of if I'll have a chance to escape this fate
Or is it by choice I walk this road?
Why did I get enclosed, continuing progress but feel froze
Nothing's gonna change my world. (x4)
I'm traveling this maze,
With a javelin,
Taking aim at abdomens,
Stumbling as I guilt trip
From pixie dust particles,
laced with the American way of conformity
I lash out in defense of culture to stimulate dormancy
But i'll rest for a second
And build on my mass collection
Ask questions of worth, since birth
Compile images, styled by each lesson
Cursed with illogical thinking in eyes of society
Crash parties of orthodox
Without the ignorant inviting me
The path I'm destined to walk is widening
But narrow to the close-minded
Hidden by brush and greenery,
I can't see, but my flows find it
Blinded as I step through this forest of activists
Dodging thorns of the norm
Decoding life's puniest form disguises a pasifist
After this confrontation with this beast of regret
A tainted existence is the resort of taking a breath
So i hold back and don't inhale,
To see where life takes me
Elevate flesh to a level of stress 'cause i believe life hates me.
Nothing's gonna change my world. (x4)
Don't stop in a sea of normlessness
And abandoned crowds that stand around
And wait for their performances
I wait in that coul de sac to see what Karma gives
Cause what goes around, comes around,
Holds weight in a lake I'm born to swim
Will I drown due to the obesity of my thought process?
As gravity pulls down to impede my self conquest
Filling my pockets with payments of nonsense
While the cover charge ??? play of my life is ????
At times I stand on the edge of this cliff and forget rap
Before I step across that threshold where ??? bends and splits at
I try to evade the barricades and downplay the mishaps
Convincing myself that the speech isn't related to the syntax
My emotional famine is at an all time height
Where I'm forced to raionalize between comfort and what's right
But when I write I'm comfortable
Pen and compass is the agony
Of the turmoil dinged existence of the Shakespearian tragedy
But does this hero die due to his flaws?
Or will I float in pergatory state before I take the fall
So for now I won't wait it
Trudgin through knee-high satan
Contemplating whether I should stay on this frequency or change the station
Cause now I'm tuned in to ruin
Falling flat on my abstract
Too intimidated to press on
But not depressed enough to backtrack
The story too ??? to be laughed at, too surreal to be realistic
Dangling between an individual and a statistic
Will I see the light at the end of the tunnel
Or has there been an avalanche that closes off the outlet
Snuffing the option of if I'll have a chance to escape this fate
Or is it by choice I walk this road?
Why did I get enclosed, continuing progress but feel froze
Nothing's gonna change my world. (x4)
Lyrics submitted by bigfootisreal
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
Dangling between an interval and a statistic
get at me.