"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.
The thieves are relentless,
Drop your guard,
And pay the price
Pay the price,
Pay the price.
The toll is too demanding
So kill the lights,
And say goodnight,
Say goodnight,
And say goodnight,
Because the fog is rolling in.
The wheels are in motion,
So drop the dice,
And play your cards,
And play your cards.
Play your cards.
The times are forgetful,
No one knows,
Who you are,
Who you are.
Who
Both feet on the ground,
But eyes on the prize,
Dear, dressed for success,
Even though the bends,
The kinks in the pipes,
Spell out disaster,
We're better off alone,
Turn it on its ear,
The knives in the walls,
The glitch in the lawsuits,
Scratch them off the page
The timeline ends here
It's dead in the end
And hope never wins,
So tally up your sins,
Because the walls are caving in.
The runs in the sidewalk,
Near the house,
Spell your name,
Spell your name.
Drop your guard,
And pay the price
Pay the price,
Pay the price.
The toll is too demanding
So kill the lights,
And say goodnight,
Say goodnight,
And say goodnight,
Because the fog is rolling in.
The wheels are in motion,
So drop the dice,
And play your cards,
And play your cards.
Play your cards.
The times are forgetful,
No one knows,
Who you are,
Who you are.
Who
Both feet on the ground,
But eyes on the prize,
Dear, dressed for success,
Even though the bends,
The kinks in the pipes,
Spell out disaster,
We're better off alone,
Turn it on its ear,
The knives in the walls,
The glitch in the lawsuits,
Scratch them off the page
The timeline ends here
It's dead in the end
And hope never wins,
So tally up your sins,
Because the walls are caving in.
The runs in the sidewalk,
Near the house,
Spell your name,
Spell your name.
Lyrics submitted by Cyberghost, edited by Jess99960
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
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.