"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 like your face
We like your style
Everything about you seems so worthwhile
We like your hair
We like your nose
Everybody gonna get one of those
The bullets for the magazine
Paparazzi shooting like soldiers in their teens
I'm just a teenage sitting in my room with the bullet for a mirror looking for a broom
To look like you
To look like you
I'm gonna burn my skin
I'm gonna cut my hair
I'm gonna grab a bit of me and stick it over there
I'm gonna take my meal of two white pills
'Cause I'm gonna look like you, yes I will
Gonna sell right out to the great white dream
'Cause I too want to be a beauty queen
I'm just a teenage sitting in my room with the bullet for a mirror looking for a broom
'Cause I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you
I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you, oh
To look like you
To look like you ohhh
To look like you
To look like you
I'm gonna buy that mud and apply that paint
Yes I put it on so thick I wonder why I ain't
I'm gonna buy everything that you do sell
Your clothes, your lips, your rocks, your smells
The bullets for the magazines
'Cause I want everybody to see me
I'm just a teenage sitting in my room with the bullet for a mirror looking for a broom
'Cause I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you
I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you, oh
We like your face, we like your style
And everything about you seems so worthwhile
We like your shoes, we like your clothes
Now we want a taste of candy going up your nose
The bullets for the magazine
'Cause I do want to be a beauty queen
I'm just a teenage sitting in my room with the bullet for a mirror looking for a broom
'Cause I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you
I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you, oh
We like your style
Everything about you seems so worthwhile
We like your hair
We like your nose
Everybody gonna get one of those
The bullets for the magazine
Paparazzi shooting like soldiers in their teens
I'm just a teenage sitting in my room with the bullet for a mirror looking for a broom
To look like you
To look like you
I'm gonna burn my skin
I'm gonna cut my hair
I'm gonna grab a bit of me and stick it over there
I'm gonna take my meal of two white pills
'Cause I'm gonna look like you, yes I will
Gonna sell right out to the great white dream
'Cause I too want to be a beauty queen
I'm just a teenage sitting in my room with the bullet for a mirror looking for a broom
'Cause I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you
I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you, oh
To look like you
To look like you ohhh
To look like you
To look like you
I'm gonna buy that mud and apply that paint
Yes I put it on so thick I wonder why I ain't
I'm gonna buy everything that you do sell
Your clothes, your lips, your rocks, your smells
The bullets for the magazines
'Cause I want everybody to see me
I'm just a teenage sitting in my room with the bullet for a mirror looking for a broom
'Cause I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you
I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you, oh
We like your face, we like your style
And everything about you seems so worthwhile
We like your shoes, we like your clothes
Now we want a taste of candy going up your nose
The bullets for the magazine
'Cause I do want to be a beauty queen
I'm just a teenage sitting in my room with the bullet for a mirror looking for a broom
'Cause I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you
I'd do anything in this world to look like you
To look like you, oh
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
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.
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,
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
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.
Yeah I agree too, maybe not so specific about one girl but about the culture of celebrities that young girls, and to a degree guys, are falling into, and trying to look like someone else their whole young lives. I'd like to think it's more a subliminal dig at the celebrities too, and how they themselves achieve their perfect look, and end up becoming role models, that still take the candy up the nose...