"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 pardon me, boys
I'm gonna be late
I don't have the choice
I've got to get into shape
It's eight on the nose
And I gotta go
So pass me my coat
I've got to get to the show
Ain't got no feelin'
Ain't got no pain
Ain't got no reason
To try again
Don't need no finger
To point at me
Can't let it linger
I must get free
So send me away
'Cause I need a break
What more can I say?
There's just so much I can take
But don't be so sad
I'm feelin' alright
It won't be so bad
If I can get through tonight
It seemed so simple
Let's go out and have some fun
Someone to play to
We didn't know what we'd begun
Then as things grew
We really thought we had it made
But soon we all knew
That we'd be ending up like slaves
The simple fact is
There really ain't no in between
You're either up there
Or scurryin' round and lookin' lean
And when you're up there
They just can't wait to tear you down
Just like a treadmill
You find yourself goin' 'round
So pardon me, boys
I'm gonna be late
I don't have the choice
I've got to get into shape
So just one more time
Yeah, that is for sure
And then I'll be fine
Ah, but I've said it before
I'm gonna be late
I don't have the choice
I've got to get into shape
It's eight on the nose
And I gotta go
So pass me my coat
I've got to get to the show
Ain't got no feelin'
Ain't got no pain
Ain't got no reason
To try again
Don't need no finger
To point at me
Can't let it linger
I must get free
So send me away
'Cause I need a break
What more can I say?
There's just so much I can take
But don't be so sad
I'm feelin' alright
It won't be so bad
If I can get through tonight
It seemed so simple
Let's go out and have some fun
Someone to play to
We didn't know what we'd begun
Then as things grew
We really thought we had it made
But soon we all knew
That we'd be ending up like slaves
The simple fact is
There really ain't no in between
You're either up there
Or scurryin' round and lookin' lean
And when you're up there
They just can't wait to tear you down
Just like a treadmill
You find yourself goin' 'round
So pardon me, boys
I'm gonna be late
I don't have the choice
I've got to get into shape
So just one more time
Yeah, that is for sure
And then I'll be fine
Ah, but I've said it before
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
Strangely enough nobody commented this song... as so far.
If you listen well, even without the lyrics, you can hear that it is an very powerfull and brilliant song. I believe it's the narrator telling how he got stuck -nevertheless the amount of money and fame he has- in the 'system'. How he is used by it as a slave. And how he, because of that, is forced to neglect the ones he loves.
When you've sacrificed nearly everything to gain fame and fortune, it's a shock to realize that as soon as you get there, everyone and everything will seek to take you back down.
Five years or so before this album was released, Supertramp was at its peak. 'Breakfast in America' was a top selling album - played seemingly everywhere on the radio.
By the time this song came out (and after Roger Hodgson's departure), the band's prospects were increasingly bleak. The 70's were over, and bands like this were relegated (fairly or unfairly), to 'dinosaur' status.
To Rick Davies, this had to be galling. He and his musicians were still just as talented, still just as hard working. His bitterness comes out here and it's clear that although the music is important, success is a double-edged sword.