"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.
We've been standing on the edge of something
Bigger than the both of us
And neither one of us had said it yet
But tonight I got my courage up
I was just about to let the L word rip
When you stopped me in my tracks
Oh, you came right out and said, "I love you"
Well all I had to say to that, is
Right back atcha, same to you
Ditto Darlin', I love you too
The feeling's mutual, it goes both ways you know
It's reciprocal, emotion's identical
I'm glad that you feel the same
'Cause I was about to say those very words
But darlin', since you said 'em first
Right back atcha
Girl, I had everything worked out
It was right on the tip of my tongue
Well, I was waitin' on that special moment
But you beat me to the punch
Yeah, you took the words right out of my mouth
You must have been readin' my mind
'Cause when you told me that you loved me
Well, I had only one reply, that's right
Right back atcha, same to you
Ditto Darlin', I love you too
The feeling's mutual, it goes both ways you know
It's reciprocal, emotion's identical
I'm glad that you feel the same
'Cause I was about to say those very words
But darlin', since you said 'em first
Right back atcha
Yeah, right back atcha, same to you
Ditto Darlin', I love you too
The feeling's mutual, it goes both ways you know
It's reciprocal, emotion's identical
I'm glad that you feel the same
'Cause I was about to say those very words
But darlin', since you said 'em first
Right back atcha
Oh yeah, ditto darlin', I love you too
Right back atcha
Bigger than the both of us
And neither one of us had said it yet
But tonight I got my courage up
I was just about to let the L word rip
When you stopped me in my tracks
Oh, you came right out and said, "I love you"
Well all I had to say to that, is
Right back atcha, same to you
Ditto Darlin', I love you too
The feeling's mutual, it goes both ways you know
It's reciprocal, emotion's identical
I'm glad that you feel the same
'Cause I was about to say those very words
But darlin', since you said 'em first
Right back atcha
Girl, I had everything worked out
It was right on the tip of my tongue
Well, I was waitin' on that special moment
But you beat me to the punch
Yeah, you took the words right out of my mouth
You must have been readin' my mind
'Cause when you told me that you loved me
Well, I had only one reply, that's right
Right back atcha, same to you
Ditto Darlin', I love you too
The feeling's mutual, it goes both ways you know
It's reciprocal, emotion's identical
I'm glad that you feel the same
'Cause I was about to say those very words
But darlin', since you said 'em first
Right back atcha
Yeah, right back atcha, same to you
Ditto Darlin', I love you too
The feeling's mutual, it goes both ways you know
It's reciprocal, emotion's identical
I'm glad that you feel the same
'Cause I was about to say those very words
But darlin', since you said 'em first
Right back atcha
Oh yeah, ditto darlin', I love you too
Right back atcha
Lyrics submitted by BleedorBreathe
Right Back Atcha Lyrics as written by Max T. Barnes Rhett Akins
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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
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.
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.