"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.
So I said, "Men, pull her out of the water.
And then lay on hands,
and bind back her flippers and tail
until international waters. And there we'll feel
what's human inside of her."
So she's chilly and slick
on her hips where the scales
meet with skin. With a sickening
flick of her tail, circling,
her gills fill with cold, salty water. She thrashes
and twirls, her freezing fins fluttering.
And she's pretty, I think,
with her hair dark as ink, and her belly bone-white.
And her lips, of a slight, sea-shell pink, slightly part
as she's tonguing the tub's rusty rim,
as the saltwater flows out and in.
All farewells to the land we knew well
we'd never be touching again.
To the fields where we rambled and ran.
Farewell to our wives and children.
Let's stand on the deck and let's watch
them all disappearing.
And the days all float by
in a daze, over waves, under sky.
And the weeks slowly leak into years.
The last islands are all left behind as we silently sail.
Until late some dark night, a wild wind starts to wail.
And our map blows away.
And our compasses fail.
And it's out on the lost boiling black water
where I see her float out.
And she's so thin and so pale. I see her rise up.
And she's so fast and so fair. My hands meet,
and they press to a point in the air,
but my mouth fills with more panic than prayer.
And my skull fills with more color than care.
And my heart fills with love, with too much love to bear.
And I know that I'll stay, and that she'll always be there,
my hands sunk in cold sand,
sea-weed strung through her hair.
And then lay on hands,
and bind back her flippers and tail
until international waters. And there we'll feel
what's human inside of her."
So she's chilly and slick
on her hips where the scales
meet with skin. With a sickening
flick of her tail, circling,
her gills fill with cold, salty water. She thrashes
and twirls, her freezing fins fluttering.
And she's pretty, I think,
with her hair dark as ink, and her belly bone-white.
And her lips, of a slight, sea-shell pink, slightly part
as she's tonguing the tub's rusty rim,
as the saltwater flows out and in.
All farewells to the land we knew well
we'd never be touching again.
To the fields where we rambled and ran.
Farewell to our wives and children.
Let's stand on the deck and let's watch
them all disappearing.
And the days all float by
in a daze, over waves, under sky.
And the weeks slowly leak into years.
The last islands are all left behind as we silently sail.
Until late some dark night, a wild wind starts to wail.
And our map blows away.
And our compasses fail.
And it's out on the lost boiling black water
where I see her float out.
And she's so thin and so pale. I see her rise up.
And she's so fast and so fair. My hands meet,
and they press to a point in the air,
but my mouth fills with more panic than prayer.
And my skull fills with more color than care.
And my heart fills with love, with too much love to bear.
And I know that I'll stay, and that she'll always be there,
my hands sunk in cold sand,
sea-weed strung through her hair.
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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”
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
It could be that this song is really just the story of a sailor and his crew's desperate, life long search for a mermaid they once caught (whom one particular man fell in love with). However, I think it's incredibly analogous to a love that is almost obsessive, completely enthralling, and overwhelming. The kind of love that captures one so completely and causes all else to fall away to trivial detail (the more dangerous of loves that is especially apt to involve the aggrandizement of the subject of ones affections--hence his flawless and alien description of the woman--a glorious mythical creature--the mermaid). The whole "love makes one blind" thing definitely applies here, though as the song ends, it might not have been an entirely bad thing and somehow worked out to benefit both parties (which seems to happen so rarely in this particular fashion of love)
In the first stanza, the narrator's attitude toward the mermaid (woman) is nearly contemptuous, oddly enough (obviously unmatched by the audible tone of Sheff's voice, which sounds close to remorseful). He seems most apathetic towards her and almost derisive or rude with the lines "..And there we’ll feel what’s human inside of her."Perhaps it's also a simple and objective curiosity but I'm inclined to think the former as he could be referring to any kind of emotional reaction from her (in response to her sudden captivity), as if she were a creature incapable of human reactions/feelings--he perceives her as different from himself- in the extreme--not human.
The second stanza refers to the woman exiting his life; his half-hearted attempt at catching something strange (without any real purpose) which happens to be this woman/mermaid has failed. "Chilly and slick", "sickening flick", "trashes" countered with "twirls", "freezing fins fluttering"--these descriptors emphasize her alienness as well as her beauty. As the woman leaves he begins to consider her as beautiful as stated in the third stanza. Obsession grows, love forms, etc.
The fourth stanza:
All farewells to the land we knew well we’d never be touching again. To the fields where we rambled and ran. Farewell to our wives and children. Let’s stand on the deck and let’s watch them all disappearing.
This describes the narrators forgoing of a "normal life" driven by conventions or the organization of any priorities. He has devoted his life to a search for this woman/to the woman (mermaid)--become obsessed with her (in a non-psychotic way). The fifth stanza further supports this by describing how time has elapsed over the years of searching, of bearing his love for her alone but of course, without her to share it with.
The sixth stanza:
Until late some dark night, a wild wind starts to wail. And our map blows away. And our compasses fail. And it’s out on the lost boiling black water where I see her float out. And she’s so thin and so pale. I see her rise up. And she’s so fast and so fair. My hands meet, and they press to a point in the air,
The narrator finds his love finally. They reunite after his long strung out quest that was near hopeless and approaching failure. (a second failure, if you count the first time he caught her.) This time he encounters her, he is overwhelmingly aware of her beauty and value, as at this meeting he is consumed by his love for her and no longer viewing her as completely alien but rather completely sublime.
The seventh stanza:
"but my mouth fills with more panic than prayer." The "but" in this sentence is key. I'm not sure if it is meant to call attention to the disparity of what love should be and his obsessive love for her. Panic seems to be more selfish while prayer (though it could be selfish) is more selfless. Or to emphasize the contrast between tangible and intangible (panic: a concrete feeling, Prayer: a wish) Or both..
"And my skull fills with more color than care." This line would support both the "altruistic love" vs "obsessive love" comparison and the "tangible/actual" vs. "intangible/fantasy" contrast. The narrator is caught up entirely in the moment instead of living through his dream. The dream is realized and before him..it his his return to the present. "And my heart fills with love, with too much love to bear." "too much love to bear" could be a negative description though it doesn't have to be. Depends on how you want to interpret it.
"And I know that I’ll stay, and that she’ll always be there, my hands sunk in cold sand, sea-weed strung through her hair."
His dream has come true, his love is requited, etc. The relationship does seem kind of precarious though, perhaps because of the parallelism and because the success of their love is so miraculous.
The parallel is fairly simple but I felt like trying to clarify it if I could.