"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.
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, be the light
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, be the light
I need light in my lantern, light in my lantern, tonight
It's a hungry world out there
Even the wind will take a bite
I can feel the world circling
Sniffing round me in the night
And the lost sheep grow teeth
Forsake the lambs and lie with the lions
And the living is desperate
Precarious and mean
And getting by is so hard
That even the rocks are picked clean
And the bones of small contention
Are the only food the hungry find
I'll need light for my lantern, light for my lantern tonight
Light in my lantern, light in my lantern tonight
Where the thistles eat the thorns
And the roses have no chance
And it ain't no wonder that the babies
Come out crying in advance
And the children look for shelter
In the hollow of some lonesome cheek
And the sky's so cold and clear
The stars might stick you where you stand
And you're only glad it's dark 'cause
You might see the master's hand
You might cast around forever
And never find the peace you seek
I need light for my lantern, light for my lantern tonight
Be the light in my lantern, the light of my lantern tonight
For every cry in the night
Somebody says, have faith
Be content inside your questions
Minotaurs inside a maze
Tell me what's the point of light
That you have to strike a match to find?
So throw away those lamentations
We both know them all too well
If there's a book of Jubilations
We'll have to write it for ourselves
So come and lie beside me darling
And let's write it while we still got time
So if you got a light, hold it high for me
I need it bad tonight, hold it high for me
Cause I'm face to face, hold it high for me
In that lonesome place, hold it high for me
With all the hurt that I've done, hold it high for me
That can't be undone, hold it high for me
Light and guide me through, hold it high for me
I'll do the same for you, hold it high for me
I'll hold it high for you, 'cause I know you've got
I'll hold it high for you, your own valley to walk
I'll hold it high for you, though it's dark as death
I'll hold it high for you, and then gets darker yet
I'll hold it high for you, though your path seems lost
I'll hold it high for you, through the thieves and rocks
I'll hold it high for you, keep you safe from harm
I'll hold it high for you, until you're back in my arms
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, be the light
I need light in my lantern, light in my lantern, tonight
It's a hungry world out there
Even the wind will take a bite
I can feel the world circling
Sniffing round me in the night
And the lost sheep grow teeth
Forsake the lambs and lie with the lions
And the living is desperate
Precarious and mean
And getting by is so hard
That even the rocks are picked clean
And the bones of small contention
Are the only food the hungry find
I'll need light for my lantern, light for my lantern tonight
Light in my lantern, light in my lantern tonight
Where the thistles eat the thorns
And the roses have no chance
And it ain't no wonder that the babies
Come out crying in advance
And the children look for shelter
In the hollow of some lonesome cheek
And the sky's so cold and clear
The stars might stick you where you stand
And you're only glad it's dark 'cause
You might see the master's hand
You might cast around forever
And never find the peace you seek
I need light for my lantern, light for my lantern tonight
Be the light in my lantern, the light of my lantern tonight
For every cry in the night
Somebody says, have faith
Be content inside your questions
Minotaurs inside a maze
Tell me what's the point of light
That you have to strike a match to find?
So throw away those lamentations
We both know them all too well
If there's a book of Jubilations
We'll have to write it for ourselves
So come and lie beside me darling
And let's write it while we still got time
So if you got a light, hold it high for me
I need it bad tonight, hold it high for me
Cause I'm face to face, hold it high for me
In that lonesome place, hold it high for me
With all the hurt that I've done, hold it high for me
That can't be undone, hold it high for me
Light and guide me through, hold it high for me
I'll do the same for you, hold it high for me
I'll hold it high for you, 'cause I know you've got
I'll hold it high for you, your own valley to walk
I'll hold it high for you, though it's dark as death
I'll hold it high for you, and then gets darker yet
I'll hold it high for you, though your path seems lost
I'll hold it high for you, through the thieves and rocks
I'll hold it high for you, keep you safe from harm
I'll hold it high for you, until you're back in my arms
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Be the light of my lantern, the light of my lantern, tonight
Lyrics submitted by alicson, edited by PabloHosehead
Lantern Lyrics as written by Joshua Ritter
Lyrics © DUCHAMP, INC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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
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”
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.
Josh's new Thin, Blue flame. Meaning of this one is in the same vein as TBF. Lyrics point to humanity having faith in itself and the people looking to each other for hope and inspiration. It's the only viable thing to do when faith is so hard to be had within one's one religion and government.