"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.
Sometimes I like to chart
How I would break your heart
But then you know that I'm sorry
You know that I'm sorry
I like to walk away
When you ask me to stay
But then you know I turn around
You know I'd turn around
Decisions I make are just reasons to break them
Well, I'll go
Rip out your heart in two
But leave one half to you
So you can feel that it's broken,
Feel that it's broken
Maybe change my mind
Find out the perfect line
And say I'm here if you need me
I'm here if you need me
So hard to decide as I stand in the ringside with the towel
I'm trying to dig out a hole
With a hoe that's made of hope more than trust
And it's getting deeper
Denying entrance to your soul
Determined to cope it's hard to adjust the terms
With your heartbreak keeper
For a day or two
I look away from you
But then you know that I miss you
You know that I miss you
I need isolation
As I try to ration
I'm asking too much
I'm asking too much
Just trying to breathe but I'm underneath the water
I'm trying to dig out a hole
With a hoe that's made of hope more than trust
And it's getting deeper
Denying entrance to your soul
Determined to cope it's hard to adjust the terms
With your heartbreak keeper
How I would break your heart
But then you know that I'm sorry
You know that I'm sorry
I like to walk away
When you ask me to stay
But then you know I turn around
You know I'd turn around
Decisions I make are just reasons to break them
Well, I'll go
Rip out your heart in two
But leave one half to you
So you can feel that it's broken,
Feel that it's broken
Maybe change my mind
Find out the perfect line
And say I'm here if you need me
I'm here if you need me
So hard to decide as I stand in the ringside with the towel
I'm trying to dig out a hole
With a hoe that's made of hope more than trust
And it's getting deeper
Denying entrance to your soul
Determined to cope it's hard to adjust the terms
With your heartbreak keeper
For a day or two
I look away from you
But then you know that I miss you
You know that I miss you
I need isolation
As I try to ration
I'm asking too much
I'm asking too much
Just trying to breathe but I'm underneath the water
I'm trying to dig out a hole
With a hoe that's made of hope more than trust
And it's getting deeper
Denying entrance to your soul
Determined to cope it's hard to adjust the terms
With your heartbreak keeper
Lyrics submitted by Enterwaterman
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Bee Gees
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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.
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Plastic Bag
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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.