"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.
It's not the type of song that makes you want to think back
To all the memories of loss inside your think tank
It's not the type of song designed for the long run
It's only made to last until the song's done
It's not the type of song for building your relationships
It's not a tool to tear apart where the sensation hits
Let it move into the realm of indifferences
Cross out the dissonance and focus where the wisdom is
It's not the type of song your friends will relate to
But they can all agree that it's a place you can escape to
Branch out and try to grasp the opportunity
To make the next few minutes exist with continuity
Live strong in the eve of ever-changing nights
Programmed to comprehend the feelings that the ladies like
Every minute has a chance to elaborate
Into something special designated for a saturday
Pardon me for tapping into something delicate
But this is not the type of song that classifies as relevant
To anything that took a second chance to figure out
It's simply here for you to concentrate on something else
Let it slowly turn itself into your favourite track
But not the type of song that contradicts the latest trends
It's not the song that I would pray for you to love
But you'll understand if you have a radio with guts
It's not the type of song that makes you want to think back
To all the memories of loss inside your think tank
It's not the type of song designed for the long run
It's only made to last until the song's done
It's not the type of song for building your relationships
It's not a tool to tear apart where the sensation hits
Let it move into the realm of indifferences
Cross out the dissonance and focus where the wisdom is
It's not the type of song delluded with intelligence
It's not make you think excessively outside you elements
This came to me within a fraction of a second
To satisfy the customer without asking the questions
It's not the type of music relative to noise
That interferes with conversations drowning out your voice
It isn't part of any exhausted compilaton
Influenced by testosterone and self gratification
And don't expect this to offend your way of life
Only hold your expectations high enough to hear this right
And done assume that this will offer a solution
To overcoming better undermining your confusion
It's as simple as the last lines repetition
It's as simple as the last lines repetition
So don't eliminate its possibility to flourish
And don't anticipate the song to ever lose its purpose
It's not the type of song that makes you want to think back
To all the memories of loss inside your think tank
It's not the type of song designed for the long run
It's only made to last until the song's done
It's not the type of song for building your relationships
It's not a tool to tear apart where the sensation hits
Let it move into the realm of indifferences
Cross out the dissonance and focus where the wisdom is
To all the memories of loss inside your think tank
It's not the type of song designed for the long run
It's only made to last until the song's done
It's not the type of song for building your relationships
It's not a tool to tear apart where the sensation hits
Let it move into the realm of indifferences
Cross out the dissonance and focus where the wisdom is
It's not the type of song your friends will relate to
But they can all agree that it's a place you can escape to
Branch out and try to grasp the opportunity
To make the next few minutes exist with continuity
Live strong in the eve of ever-changing nights
Programmed to comprehend the feelings that the ladies like
Every minute has a chance to elaborate
Into something special designated for a saturday
Pardon me for tapping into something delicate
But this is not the type of song that classifies as relevant
To anything that took a second chance to figure out
It's simply here for you to concentrate on something else
Let it slowly turn itself into your favourite track
But not the type of song that contradicts the latest trends
It's not the song that I would pray for you to love
But you'll understand if you have a radio with guts
It's not the type of song that makes you want to think back
To all the memories of loss inside your think tank
It's not the type of song designed for the long run
It's only made to last until the song's done
It's not the type of song for building your relationships
It's not a tool to tear apart where the sensation hits
Let it move into the realm of indifferences
Cross out the dissonance and focus where the wisdom is
It's not the type of song delluded with intelligence
It's not make you think excessively outside you elements
This came to me within a fraction of a second
To satisfy the customer without asking the questions
It's not the type of music relative to noise
That interferes with conversations drowning out your voice
It isn't part of any exhausted compilaton
Influenced by testosterone and self gratification
And don't expect this to offend your way of life
Only hold your expectations high enough to hear this right
And done assume that this will offer a solution
To overcoming better undermining your confusion
It's as simple as the last lines repetition
It's as simple as the last lines repetition
So don't eliminate its possibility to flourish
And don't anticipate the song to ever lose its purpose
It's not the type of song that makes you want to think back
To all the memories of loss inside your think tank
It's not the type of song designed for the long run
It's only made to last until the song's done
It's not the type of song for building your relationships
It's not a tool to tear apart where the sensation hits
Let it move into the realm of indifferences
Cross out the dissonance and focus where the wisdom is
Lyrics submitted by stagnate
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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”
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.