"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.
Padded by locks the door knob singed
A rusty close to a doorknob hinge
Remembering the sounds we used to know
But when those sounds sang from our halls
The backstop pressed against bleached walls
Do you remember the sound of snow?
And these flames, boil in reclaim
On the way down
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you want it to
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you want it to
Behind the road you wait for long
So I said follow me down this time
I wrote the rules but you've got the time
So can you help me
I've got to break free from these chains oh from these chains
And these flames, boil in reclaim
On the way down
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you want it to
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you wanted it to
Your eyes they fall before us
Your sighs are all around
Inside the walls have fallen
And now, you're all alone
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you want it to
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you wanted it to
Behind the road, we wait for long
A rusty close to a doorknob hinge
Remembering the sounds we used to know
But when those sounds sang from our halls
The backstop pressed against bleached walls
Do you remember the sound of snow?
And these flames, boil in reclaim
On the way down
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you want it to
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you want it to
Behind the road you wait for long
So I said follow me down this time
I wrote the rules but you've got the time
So can you help me
I've got to break free from these chains oh from these chains
And these flames, boil in reclaim
On the way down
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you want it to
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you wanted it to
Your eyes they fall before us
Your sighs are all around
Inside the walls have fallen
And now, you're all alone
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you want it to
I can follow you
Your heart beats just like I wanted it to
And you wanted it to
Behind the road, we wait for long
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
I think it says "behind the road you wait for love"
and it says "your eyes are closed before us"
my FAVORITE on the album <3
At a concert in Chicago, Sameer intro'd this song by saying that this song was about "having 12 fingers". So there you go!
I think this song is about a seventeen/eighteen year old leaving home and a tough childhood behind him/her. In the beginning, it seems like the 'you' is specifically someone he/she loves, whether that's a sibling, an old friend or maybe a first love.
"Padded by locks the door knob singed A rusty close to a doorknob hinge Remembering the sounds we used to know" I think this verse is talking about locking away the memories the kids have of their earlier childhood and how it hurts to try and remember them
"But when those sounds sang from our halls The backstop pressed against bleached walls Do you remember the sound of snow?" In this verse, the sounds singing means the memories that keep escaping, and how by 'bleaching the walls' they're trying to wipe all memories clean as though they never existed, but the 'sound of snow' is a good memory they share together that neither really wants to forget.
The chorus and verse afterwards: "So I said follow me down this time I wrote the rules but you've got the time So can you help me I've got to break free from these chains oh from these chains" I interpret as wanting to stay with this person you love but knowing you also have to leave this place (whether the place is an actual town, house, or just who you used to be)
"Your eyes they fall before us Your sighs are all around Inside the walls have fallen And now, you're all alone” There, I think the 'you' changes to the person that maybe made the childhood tough, whether that's an abusive or neglective parent, or maybe just somebody who wasn't there for them in the way they wanted. Now, the kids feel empowered by their ability to leave, and they're previous resentment comes out in this verse.
I don't know though, just a thought.