"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.
Maybe… Maybe you saw your mother, maybe she’s smiling,
She hears your catching laughter, she’s missed your charm,
We never made it to Cooperstown
But I’ve still got that glove under my bed,
Maybe I’ll see you, we could shoot the shit, finally have a beer,
“Have a catch,”but for now its catch my tears, its catch my breath,
I can just hear you say “come on bud, get out of that funk, it’s time to move on,”
It’s funny how you still apply, you still know me,
I’ll try to take your tools and make something worth while,
Try to make ya proud, I’ve learned nothing is spotless anymore,
But I’ll let you resonate…
Maybe your Heaven is that Norman Rockwell scene
Where you and your friends are singing that Gordon Lightfoot song,
“If you could only read my mind,” well if you could only read my mind,
Well that ending, it was just too hard to take,
Is it better than Clapton? Did you see your fathers eyes?
I know it’s wishful thinking hoping this won’t always kill me,
But If you saw yours, then I’ll see mine,
You finally stretched your feet and ghosted away from me,
You had to fade away, you had to leave
I’m pleading for one more time with what I know now,
I’m begging for the same flake to fall twice for the first time,
I’m begging for what wasn’t said.
That night the snow shaped the land, and I walked home,
I laughed the whole way because I suppose if it hurts,
It's worth it, but now that ghost is me.
She hears your catching laughter, she’s missed your charm,
We never made it to Cooperstown
But I’ve still got that glove under my bed,
Maybe I’ll see you, we could shoot the shit, finally have a beer,
“Have a catch,”but for now its catch my tears, its catch my breath,
I can just hear you say “come on bud, get out of that funk, it’s time to move on,”
It’s funny how you still apply, you still know me,
I’ll try to take your tools and make something worth while,
Try to make ya proud, I’ve learned nothing is spotless anymore,
But I’ll let you resonate…
Maybe your Heaven is that Norman Rockwell scene
Where you and your friends are singing that Gordon Lightfoot song,
“If you could only read my mind,” well if you could only read my mind,
Well that ending, it was just too hard to take,
Is it better than Clapton? Did you see your fathers eyes?
I know it’s wishful thinking hoping this won’t always kill me,
But If you saw yours, then I’ll see mine,
You finally stretched your feet and ghosted away from me,
You had to fade away, you had to leave
I’m pleading for one more time with what I know now,
I’m begging for the same flake to fall twice for the first time,
I’m begging for what wasn’t said.
That night the snow shaped the land, and I walked home,
I laughed the whole way because I suppose if it hurts,
It's worth it, but now that ghost is me.
Lyrics submitted by catiev
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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“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.
He feels completely distraught and no matter what he does or how he thinks, he's reminded of that person, and he feels "if they didn't tell me the truth", why should he be honest with himself, so he just fades away into his own despair, and tries to create some kind of perfection with his desperation, but he just ends up being a ghost , just like how that person died.
I love this song.
My mother died this past Christmas Eve. I received a bunch of albums for Christmas, including this one (The Lack Long After) but didn't open/listen to them until two weeks later. This was the first track on the first album that I listened to.
I had to turn it off after the first couple lines.