"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.
You told me that you just needed to hear my voice
And everything will be alright so we talked all night
I told you stupid jokes and you laughed until it ached
When you fell asleep, I stayed up to hear you breathe
We never hung it up, that made us feel too far away
Even if I couldn't touch you, you would still be there with me
I use to walk you home from school and let you wear my favorite sweater
It made me feel important plus it always smelled better when you wore it
Every glance I took became a stare
I was enslaved by the cucumber melon smell in your hair
I thought I lost those kind of feelings for good until today
I thought that sunshine was only the basic by the rain
But she just might be the right light to conquer the darkness
Or maybe I'll be worse then when I started
Love will tear us apart
But there's joy in our division
Not to mention it's the only reason I continue living
I don't know if I'm ready to reveal my true skeletons
Every single word out of her mouth is so intelligent
When she looks back at me, my legs turn into gelatin
I try to speak clearly but my palms are feeling wet again
I don't know if she could ever really love the man I am
If she really knew me would she stay and watch me bleed within
She'll never understand me, she can't pierce my exoskeleton
I'll never get to kiss her cause I'm not a vegetarian
It was the way no one could see my but you
That made me understand I didn't have to worry about the past
All I had to do was look into your eyes to see the truth
When you handed me a paper heart before we went to class
She loved the shitty parts of me, you just put up with the rest
You use to brag to your graffiti friends and say I was the best
Holding my backpack straps so you would never get lost
When you use to come with me to see my favorite Dj's
We would sneak into your room and hope we didn't get caught
At 4 o'clock in the morning, what would your step dad say?
I think I finally found some else as good as you
Or at least she makes me feel the way I use to
I think that I could love again if I could make it through the summer
But love is the bomb that tore my personalities asunder
See, since we called the quits I only failed in the past
She'll make we wanna die if this doesn't last
I don't know if I'm ready to reveal my true skeletons
Every single word out of her mouth is so intelligent
When she looks back at me, my legs turn into gelatin
I try to speak clearly but my palms are feeling wet again
I don't know if she could ever really love the man I am
If she really knew me would she stay and watch me bleed within
She'll never understand me, she can't pierce my exoskeleton
I'll never get to kiss her cause I'm not a vegetarian
And everything will be alright so we talked all night
I told you stupid jokes and you laughed until it ached
When you fell asleep, I stayed up to hear you breathe
We never hung it up, that made us feel too far away
Even if I couldn't touch you, you would still be there with me
I use to walk you home from school and let you wear my favorite sweater
It made me feel important plus it always smelled better when you wore it
Every glance I took became a stare
I was enslaved by the cucumber melon smell in your hair
I thought I lost those kind of feelings for good until today
I thought that sunshine was only the basic by the rain
But she just might be the right light to conquer the darkness
Or maybe I'll be worse then when I started
Love will tear us apart
But there's joy in our division
Not to mention it's the only reason I continue living
I don't know if I'm ready to reveal my true skeletons
Every single word out of her mouth is so intelligent
When she looks back at me, my legs turn into gelatin
I try to speak clearly but my palms are feeling wet again
I don't know if she could ever really love the man I am
If she really knew me would she stay and watch me bleed within
She'll never understand me, she can't pierce my exoskeleton
I'll never get to kiss her cause I'm not a vegetarian
It was the way no one could see my but you
That made me understand I didn't have to worry about the past
All I had to do was look into your eyes to see the truth
When you handed me a paper heart before we went to class
She loved the shitty parts of me, you just put up with the rest
You use to brag to your graffiti friends and say I was the best
Holding my backpack straps so you would never get lost
When you use to come with me to see my favorite Dj's
We would sneak into your room and hope we didn't get caught
At 4 o'clock in the morning, what would your step dad say?
I think I finally found some else as good as you
Or at least she makes me feel the way I use to
I think that I could love again if I could make it through the summer
But love is the bomb that tore my personalities asunder
See, since we called the quits I only failed in the past
She'll make we wanna die if this doesn't last
I don't know if I'm ready to reveal my true skeletons
Every single word out of her mouth is so intelligent
When she looks back at me, my legs turn into gelatin
I try to speak clearly but my palms are feeling wet again
I don't know if she could ever really love the man I am
If she really knew me would she stay and watch me bleed within
She'll never understand me, she can't pierce my exoskeleton
I'll never get to kiss her cause I'm not a vegetarian
Lyrics submitted by ohaideja
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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.
i'm so glad i posted these lyrics on this site. i can't believe it wasn't on here before.
anyways i think this song is about a guy who was in love with a girl and they broke up or maybe something just went wrong in their relationship where they just couldn't see each other anymore. He soon falls for someone else but he just can't forget about his previous love. He's reminiscing on the memories they once had and how she took the time to understand him. He's afraid to reveal his true self to this "new girl" that he's with because he doesn't want what they currently have, to fail like his previous relationship did. He can't handle another heartbreak. but that's just my interpretation of the song.