"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.
This is for those who wait
Another day another waiting game
A little different but it's still the same
I am here but where's the one I'm longing for?
I'm having troubles feeling all alone
Will my heart ever find a home?
I want to hope but sometimes I just don't know
I know I'm not the only one
So you sing a lullaby
To the lonely hearts tonight
Let it set your heart on fire
Let it set you free
When you're fighting to believe
In a love that you can't see
Just know there is a purpose
For those who wait
I want to open up my eyes
I know that all I need is time
I'm growing stronger every single day
God, I'm gonna leave them to You now
Letting go all of my fear and doubt
I can't do this on my own, so I'll give You control
I know I'm not the only one
So you sing a lullaby
To the lonely hearts tonight
Let it set your heart on fire
Let it set you free
When you're fighting to believe
In a love that you can't see
Just know there is a purpose
For those who wait
The pressure makes us stronger
The struggle makes us hunger
The hard lessons make the difference
The pressure makes us stronger
The struggle makes us hunger
The hard lessons make the difference
And the difference makes it worth it
So we sing a lullaby
To the lonely hearts tonight
Let it set your heart on fire
Let it set you free
When you're fighting to believe
In a love that you can't see
Just know there is a purpose
For those who wait
Let it set your heart on fire
This is for those who wait
Another day another waiting game
A little different but it's still the same
I am here but where's the one I'm longing for?
I'm having troubles feeling all alone
Will my heart ever find a home?
I want to hope but sometimes I just don't know
I know I'm not the only one
So you sing a lullaby
To the lonely hearts tonight
Let it set your heart on fire
Let it set you free
When you're fighting to believe
In a love that you can't see
Just know there is a purpose
For those who wait
I want to open up my eyes
I know that all I need is time
I'm growing stronger every single day
God, I'm gonna leave them to You now
Letting go all of my fear and doubt
I can't do this on my own, so I'll give You control
I know I'm not the only one
So you sing a lullaby
To the lonely hearts tonight
Let it set your heart on fire
Let it set you free
When you're fighting to believe
In a love that you can't see
Just know there is a purpose
For those who wait
The pressure makes us stronger
The struggle makes us hunger
The hard lessons make the difference
The pressure makes us stronger
The struggle makes us hunger
The hard lessons make the difference
And the difference makes it worth it
So we sing a lullaby
To the lonely hearts tonight
Let it set your heart on fire
Let it set you free
When you're fighting to believe
In a love that you can't see
Just know there is a purpose
For those who wait
Let it set your heart on fire
This is for those who wait
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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"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
i think its about waiting for love to come to you and leaning on God when you get lonely waiting for him/her to show up. i also think that it has a little to do with waiting to have sex maybe?
The pressure makes us stronger The struggle makes us hunger The hard lessons make the difference
thats the vibe i get from this verse. thats just what i think though :)
That is what this song means to me. I am 19 and still a virgin, people make fun of me and I have been tested, but this song keeps me going to wait for my wife.<br /> <br /> When you're fighting to believe<br /> In a love that you can't see<br /> Just know there is a purpose<br /> For those who wait<br /> <br /> This part, “believe in a love you can’t see” is talking about a strong marriage where when things get hard, you don’t just divorce. This means a lot to me because my parent split and there are so many failing marriages. I want to believe that I can have a marriage built on God.<br /> <br /> The pressure makes us stronger<br /> The struggle makes us hunger<br /> The hard lessons make the difference<br /> And the difference makes it worth it<br /> <br /> This part is about the pressure of being single/virgin. In this day, it is hard to find people fighting for the same goal of having a wife and staying pure for her.<br /> <br /> So we sing a lullaby<br /> To the lonely hearts tonight<br /> Let it set your heart on fire<br /> Let it set you free<br /> <br /> At times, it is very hard and being in college does not help. Many times I just have to take a walk at night and talk to God about how I feel and how hard it is. But I want to wait for my wife and stay strong, because in the end, it will be more beautiful and fulfilling than anything else.