"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.
Well your eyes just haven't been the same, Joseph
Are you bad at dealing with the fame, Joseph
There's a pale moonshine, above you
Do you see both sides, do they shove you, around
Is the touchstone forcing you to hide, Joseph
Are the rumors eating you alive, Joseph
When the holy night is upon you
Will you do what's right, the position is yours
From the temple walls to the New York night
Our decisions rest on a child
When she took her stand
Did she hold your hand
Will your faith stand still or run away
Run away
When they've driven you so far
That you think you're gonna drop
Do you wish you were back there at the carpenter shop
With the plane and the lathe
The work never drove you mad
You're a maker, a creator
Not just somebody's dad
From the temple walls to the New York night
Our decisions rest on a man
When I take the stand
When I take the stand
Will he hold my hand
Will my faith stand still or run away
(Run away)
And the desert
It's a hell of a place to find heaven
Forty years lost in the wilderness looking for God
And you climb to the top of the mountain
Looking down on the city
Where you were born
(On the years since you left gave you time to sit back and reflect)
Better you than me (better you than me)
Better you than me
Yes
Well the Holy night is upon you (better you than me, better you than me)
Do you see both sides, do they shove you, around
Better you than me, Joseph (better you than me)
Better you than me
Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, Joseph
Than me
Better you than me
Better you than me (better you, better you, better you)
Than me
Well your eyes just haven?t been the same, Joseph
Are you bad at dealing with the fame, Joseph
There's a pale moonshine, above you
Do you see both sides, do they shove you, around
Is the touchstone forcing you to hide, Joseph
Are the rumors eating you alive, Joseph
When the holy night is upon you
Will you do what's right, the position is yours
From the temple walls to the New York night
Our decisions rest on a child
When she took her stand
Did she hold your hand
Will your faith stand still or run away
Run away
When they've driven you so far
That you think you're gonna drop
Do you wish you were back there at the carpenter shop
With the plane and the lathe
The work never drove you mad
You're a maker, a creator
Not just somebody's dad
From the temple walls to the New York night
Our decisions rest on a man
When I take the stand
When I take the stand
Will he hold my hand
Will my faith stand still or run away
(Run away)
And the desert
It's a hell of a place to find heaven
Forty years lost in the wilderness looking for God
And you climb to the top of the mountain
Looking down on the city
Where you were born
(On the years since you left gave you time to sit back and reflect)
Better you than me (better you than me)
Better you than me
Yes
Well the Holy night is upon you (better you than me, better you than me)
Do you see both sides, do they shove you, around
Better you than me, Joseph (better you than me)
Better you than me
Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, Joseph
Than me
Better you than me
Better you than me (better you, better you, better you)
Than me
Well your eyes just haven?t been the same, Joseph
Lyrics submitted by ShotgunXXWedding, edited by unillama
Joseph, Better You Than Me Lyrics as written by Elton John Neil Tennant
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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.
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.
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.
No one has commented yet??
Not sure about this one, think its growing on me though.....
Brandon Flowers is mormon, and this song is obviously about Joseph Smith...<br /> "are the rumors eating you alive," Joseph Smith was hated by a lot of people, and there were a lot of rumors about him...<br /> "from the temple walls to the new york night," they built a lot of temples when he was alive, and he was born and lived most of his life in New York...<br /> "And the desert It's a hell of a place to find heaven Forty years lost in the wilderness looking for God" (i know it sounds a lot like Moses but listen to this) Salt Lake City was the desert and that was supposed to be Zion, it also took them 40 years to build the Salt Lake City temple...<br /> <br /> <br /> it also says about a carpenter, so that's obviously Joseph from the old testiment... i think he's kind of talking about both