"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.
Look, yo, no castaway, no survivor
I ain't lost and this ain't shipwrecked
I feel small in this big wide world
A mummy ain't said 'Honey, I shrunk the kids' yet
I ain't Jesus but I'm walkin' on water
There's no bombs here, there's no walkers
I can break out of jail with a lighter
So is there any point in making laws, blud
This ain't Atlantis, are you sure
I nearly suffocated when I touched the shore
No rain, condoms it poured and up the road
You'll never guess who I saw
Uh, uh, uh, it's K-A
Look, skip on the beat like Ali in the gym
Honey I'm home this is where I wanna live
Just found it like Nemo on the d-low
I don't know if it's greener, but it's green though
On the other side of the fence, bind to the ends
No fence, no stress, no rent, no superficial shit, this real flow
Where the women look hot, but the beach cold
And the speech goes like, hi little lady
Sex on the beach, wanna try for a baby
Word in the village, I'm a little bit crazy
Swag up on a hundred degrees, no eighty
Look, if heaven had a V-I-P, uh, this is it, white sand, blue sea
But I don't know who they are and I'm damn sure they don't know me
But I come in peace
Cool, white flag, white flag
No war
No guns
No Corps
Just life
Just love
No hype
Just fun
No ties
Just me and my mind
Just me and my wife
But tell me if I'm dreamin'
'Cause I don't wanna wake up 'til the evenin'
And I don't wanna be left sleepin'
From all the diseases that I breathe in
Look, respect the island, no stealin'
And don't bring religion here, no three kings
It's great and we ain't leavin'
We come on in peace, sing
White flag?
White flag
I ain't lost and this ain't shipwrecked
I feel small in this big wide world
A mummy ain't said 'Honey, I shrunk the kids' yet
I ain't Jesus but I'm walkin' on water
There's no bombs here, there's no walkers
I can break out of jail with a lighter
So is there any point in making laws, blud
This ain't Atlantis, are you sure
I nearly suffocated when I touched the shore
No rain, condoms it poured and up the road
You'll never guess who I saw
Uh, uh, uh, it's K-A
Look, skip on the beat like Ali in the gym
Honey I'm home this is where I wanna live
Just found it like Nemo on the d-low
I don't know if it's greener, but it's green though
On the other side of the fence, bind to the ends
No fence, no stress, no rent, no superficial shit, this real flow
Where the women look hot, but the beach cold
And the speech goes like, hi little lady
Sex on the beach, wanna try for a baby
Word in the village, I'm a little bit crazy
Swag up on a hundred degrees, no eighty
Look, if heaven had a V-I-P, uh, this is it, white sand, blue sea
But I don't know who they are and I'm damn sure they don't know me
But I come in peace
Cool, white flag, white flag
No war
No guns
No Corps
Just life
Just love
No hype
Just fun
No ties
Just me and my mind
Just me and my wife
But tell me if I'm dreamin'
'Cause I don't wanna wake up 'til the evenin'
And I don't wanna be left sleepin'
From all the diseases that I breathe in
Look, respect the island, no stealin'
And don't bring religion here, no three kings
It's great and we ain't leavin'
We come on in peace, sing
White flag?
White flag
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Hayalperest
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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Ed Sheeran
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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.
Okay, you guys probably arn'nt no...you guys are definately not going to get this...few people these days do...but thats kinda what the songs about! 1) we are not humans with souls, we are souls with human bodies, and we have come here to make this place a sort of home/sandbox to learn about ourselves 2)when it all began humanity was in perfect harmony "white flag? white flag." 3) the mind is connected on every level to everything in existance for we are mearly different "viewpoints" of the spirit of creation (not god) "no three kings." 4) the mind is more powerfull than you could ever imagine...lol...yeah "I can break out of jail with a lighter" (lighter=knowledge/enlightenment) 5) laws and money are pointless hardships we need not force on ourselfs...we have been minipulated to see ourselfs as individuals not as different parts of a greater whole. and that is why we have war, racism, hate etc...
Shall I keep going or to you get the whole "pre-society utopia paradise" message the song is portraying without further aid?
hey there, i adore this interpretation, it's awesome and i think it's spot on. thanks
That's an awesome intepretation!
@themanwhoknew i just don't understand, you're so much smarter than all of us simpletons...