"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.
My arms are sliced up but I'm not embarrassed
It's the only way I get attention now from my parents
It's not like they really take the time to be caring
They just use me to watch the baby when they run errands
My name is _ I got a friend named Karen
She gave me your CD with the track for Eminem
You wrote a song called #1 fan I listened and
I wanted to know if you can help me like you was helping them
She had something even harder to be mentioning
like every single day i struggle just with fitting in
Plus the boys wont give me no attention and
I get teased and made fun of by all my friends and then
See I'm feeling like I'm wishing now that i could end
My life cuz I'm sick and tired of all the time i spend
Trying to figure out how I could be worth anything
Can you help me KJ
From your fan
I'm writing this letter
Cause I have to tell ya
I need some help from you
I'm writing this letter
I hope that you get it
I need some help from you
I live with my mom ever since my parents split
And at home I spend my time on the internet
Looking at porn I'm addicted and sick of it
Myspace dot com is mostly where I'm gettin it
On top of that there's videos that I can watch
And I really wanna quit but it's like I can't stop
See I'm scared that the I'm just gonna get caught
And when I see a girl all I think is dirty thoughts
And it's not that I don't know that its really wrong
But its right here for me every time I'm logging on
I got all your CDs I really like your songs
Well I downloaded em but anyway moving on
My screen name is KJ-52 is the bomb
I want to do a website KJ rocks dot com
I really need some help cuz I cant tell my mom
Oh by the way my real name is _
I'm writing this letter
Cause I have to tell ya
I need some help from you
I'm writing this letter
I hope that you get it
I need some help from you
I took the time just to write you
We play you every Wednesday at my youth group
I love your music and we all think that you's cool
But I been struggling ever since I moved to a new school
See everybody thinks that I'm the perfect Christian Girl
I had a hard time trying to believe that God is real
I've been on mission trips and camps the whole deal
My dad had cancer tho I prayed that God would heal
But he died anyway so its hard to feel
Like he cares about me so was it God's will
To take my dad I really got a raw deal
Sometimes i just wanna swallow all my moms pills
When I pray I really doubt it
I've lost my way or maybe I never found it
I've been smoking and drinking and nobody knows about it
By the way my name is _
Don't mispronounce it.
I'm writing this letter
Cause I have to tell ya
I need some help from you
I'm writing this letter
I hope that you get it
I need some help from you
If I could write to every kid that out there
Every kid that's hurting, feels like nobody cares
I would tell them that God can wipe away every tear
And he's right here, and I would say it quite clear
Your here for a reason you're not a mistake
You are a special creation that God himself made
To the victims of abuse
To every girl that was raped
You can live and be free from your pain
And find strength and no longer be ashamed
You can find peace and hope in Jesus name
You ain't gotta live with this hurt everyday
Christ came to give you life in a much better way
To every kid right now that's full of hate
And bitterness I'd tell em just to give it all away
To the one that came to take all the blame
That's what I'd write here's what I'd say
I'm writing this letter
Cause I have to tell ya
I need some help from you
I'm writing this letter
I hope that you get it
I need some help from you
It's the only way I get attention now from my parents
It's not like they really take the time to be caring
They just use me to watch the baby when they run errands
My name is _ I got a friend named Karen
She gave me your CD with the track for Eminem
You wrote a song called #1 fan I listened and
I wanted to know if you can help me like you was helping them
She had something even harder to be mentioning
like every single day i struggle just with fitting in
Plus the boys wont give me no attention and
I get teased and made fun of by all my friends and then
See I'm feeling like I'm wishing now that i could end
My life cuz I'm sick and tired of all the time i spend
Trying to figure out how I could be worth anything
Can you help me KJ
From your fan
I'm writing this letter
Cause I have to tell ya
I need some help from you
I'm writing this letter
I hope that you get it
I need some help from you
I live with my mom ever since my parents split
And at home I spend my time on the internet
Looking at porn I'm addicted and sick of it
Myspace dot com is mostly where I'm gettin it
On top of that there's videos that I can watch
And I really wanna quit but it's like I can't stop
See I'm scared that the I'm just gonna get caught
And when I see a girl all I think is dirty thoughts
And it's not that I don't know that its really wrong
But its right here for me every time I'm logging on
I got all your CDs I really like your songs
Well I downloaded em but anyway moving on
My screen name is KJ-52 is the bomb
I want to do a website KJ rocks dot com
I really need some help cuz I cant tell my mom
Oh by the way my real name is _
I'm writing this letter
Cause I have to tell ya
I need some help from you
I'm writing this letter
I hope that you get it
I need some help from you
I took the time just to write you
We play you every Wednesday at my youth group
I love your music and we all think that you's cool
But I been struggling ever since I moved to a new school
See everybody thinks that I'm the perfect Christian Girl
I had a hard time trying to believe that God is real
I've been on mission trips and camps the whole deal
My dad had cancer tho I prayed that God would heal
But he died anyway so its hard to feel
Like he cares about me so was it God's will
To take my dad I really got a raw deal
Sometimes i just wanna swallow all my moms pills
When I pray I really doubt it
I've lost my way or maybe I never found it
I've been smoking and drinking and nobody knows about it
By the way my name is _
Don't mispronounce it.
I'm writing this letter
Cause I have to tell ya
I need some help from you
I'm writing this letter
I hope that you get it
I need some help from you
If I could write to every kid that out there
Every kid that's hurting, feels like nobody cares
I would tell them that God can wipe away every tear
And he's right here, and I would say it quite clear
Your here for a reason you're not a mistake
You are a special creation that God himself made
To the victims of abuse
To every girl that was raped
You can live and be free from your pain
And find strength and no longer be ashamed
You can find peace and hope in Jesus name
You ain't gotta live with this hurt everyday
Christ came to give you life in a much better way
To every kid right now that's full of hate
And bitterness I'd tell em just to give it all away
To the one that came to take all the blame
That's what I'd write here's what I'd say
I'm writing this letter
Cause I have to tell ya
I need some help from you
I'm writing this letter
I hope that you get it
I need some help from you
Lyrics submitted by chyde
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."
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.
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I am an adult survivor of child abuse. this song always gets me. <3
"Every kid that's hurting, feels like nobody cares I would tell them that God can wipe away every tear And he's right here, and I would say it quite clear Your here for a reason you're not a mistake You are a special creation that God himself made To the victims of abuse "
"You can live and be free from your pain And find strength and no longer be ashamed You can find peace and hope in Jesus name You ain't gotta live with this hurt everyday Christ came to give you life in a much better way To every kid right now that's full of hate And bitterness I'd tell em just to give it all away To the one that came to take all the blame"
I AM FREE! the bitterness has gone, but the pain of the memories will still be there!