"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.
I want every town, I need you to know
There's nothing left to sell me, I'm broke
I just want these holes for when I try to run
For no reason, or so I'm told
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ancient in one long, incidental month
You had a bad day, I want home
You still make me smile, as much as I am reeling
It has been a while, please don't make me show I'm not your gal
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Just like everyone else
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Try and make me feel like I'm your number one
Every other one, well, shit, get real
Know you're balding still, you're older than you feel
Think a little harder, a little modest and humble be
I won't wait around
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Just like everyone else
You're just like everyone else
You're just like everyone else
You're just like everyone else
There's nothing left to sell me, I'm broke
I just want these holes for when I try to run
For no reason, or so I'm told
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ancient in one long, incidental month
You had a bad day, I want home
You still make me smile, as much as I am reeling
It has been a while, please don't make me show I'm not your gal
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Just like everyone else
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Try and make me feel like I'm your number one
Every other one, well, shit, get real
Know you're balding still, you're older than you feel
Think a little harder, a little modest and humble be
I won't wait around
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself
Just like everyone else
You're just like everyone else
You're just like everyone else
You're just like everyone else
Lyrics submitted by misscleo3861
Save Yourself Lyrics as written by Sharon Van Etten
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Hipgnosis Songs Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.
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.
these are just from the cd booklet:
I want every town. I need you to know - There's nothing left to sell me. I'm broke. I just want these holes for when I try to run for no reason, or so I'm told. Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself? Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself? (ooh...) Ancient in one long, incidental month. You had a bad day, I want home. You still make me smile, as much as I am reelin'... It had been a while. Please don't make me show I'm not your gal... Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself? Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself? Just like everyone else. (ooh...oooh...) Try and make me feel like I'm your number one, every other one. Well, shit - get real. Know you're balding still. You're older than you feel. Think a little harder, A little modest and humble be. I won't wait around. Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself? Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself? Just like everyone else. You're just like everyone else.
It HAS been awhile*<br /> <br /> if only we could edit our comments :)
This is such a beautiful song. Wow. Makes me feel the way I feel when I listen to Johnny Cash's American Album IV…His version of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" came to mind first.
I was talking specifically about the feel of the song on my first listen. I hadn't read the lyrics when I posted the comment (which is unusual for me), but I still stand by what I said. I think the truth IS beautiful. It may not always be pretty, but there it is anyway…The truth. And she does it in an unpretentious way. What about the rest of the lyrics? The simple fact that she's not afraid to put her cards on the table and tell someone she has feelings for that she knows she's basically being/has been used by them takes a lot of guts in my opinion. Her vulnerability and honesty here are what make the song beautiful to ME. It's not always about the lyrics either…it's the emotion she conveys between the lines.
Beautiful? "Know you're balding still, you're older than you feel." Yeah. that's what I call beautiful. LOL<br />
I want every town, I need you to know There's nothing left to sell me, I'm broke
I just want these holes for when I try to run For no reason, or so I'm told
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Ancient in one long, incidental month You had a bad day, I want home
You still make me smile, as much as I am reeling It has been a while, please don't make me show I'm not your gal
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself Just like everyone else Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh
Try and make me feel like I'm your number one Every other one, well, shit, get real
Know you're balding still, you're older than you feel Think a little harder, a little modest and humble be I won't wait around
Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself Don't you think I know you're only trying to save yourself Just like everyone else You're just like everyone else You're just like everyone else You're just like everyone else
This song really helped me during a bad roommate situation.