"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.
He tried to look like he had a little bit of money
A grifter with a southern drawl
Well I could tell right away by the way he was runnin'
That the boy was just a beggin' to crawl.
At least a junkie knows what he needs
You get a man all strung out on green
He'll give up everything he's got
For just a one shot at havin' it all.
He took every last cent of his savings
On a trip to the local track
He had a tip from a friend, bet it all down to win
On a horse named heart attack.
Well now he ain't no fool boys, he didn't bet it all
So everything was cool when that horse took a fall
But then he turned around and blew the rest
Trying to win it all back
He wanted easy money
It's sad but it's true
Everybody wants the most they can possibly get
For the least they can possibly do
They want that easy money
I don't understand.
God they scheme and they plan
But they can't get their hands on no easy money.
Now she'd been watching him from her table
Not too soft but not too tough
Well she figured by the money he'd been throwing around
That he was damn sure good-looking enough
So she worked her way over
She shot him a wink
He took his last five bucks
He bought her a drink
By the time they hit the Motel 6
They figured they was in love (love love love)
She loved that easy money
It's sad but it's true
Everybody wants the most they can possible get
For the least they can possibly do
They want that easy money
I don't understand.
Lord God they scheme and they plan
But they can't get their hands on that easy money.
Tell it like it is, all right
It must have been about two weeks later
He got a call from a business friend
Who'd found a sure-fire steal of an investment deal
And honey guess what? He's gonna let both of us in
So they took all their savings out of the bank
And on the way home they stopped to gas up the tank
She stepped in for some cigs
And she never saw the fucker again
He got that easy money
It's sad but it's true
Everybody wants the most they can possible get
For the least they can possibly do
He thinks it's easy money
I don't understand.
You scheme and you plan
You ain't got your hands on no easy money.
You scheme and you plan
You ain't got your hands on no easy money.
A grifter with a southern drawl
Well I could tell right away by the way he was runnin'
That the boy was just a beggin' to crawl.
At least a junkie knows what he needs
You get a man all strung out on green
He'll give up everything he's got
For just a one shot at havin' it all.
He took every last cent of his savings
On a trip to the local track
He had a tip from a friend, bet it all down to win
On a horse named heart attack.
Well now he ain't no fool boys, he didn't bet it all
So everything was cool when that horse took a fall
But then he turned around and blew the rest
Trying to win it all back
He wanted easy money
It's sad but it's true
Everybody wants the most they can possibly get
For the least they can possibly do
They want that easy money
I don't understand.
God they scheme and they plan
But they can't get their hands on no easy money.
Now she'd been watching him from her table
Not too soft but not too tough
Well she figured by the money he'd been throwing around
That he was damn sure good-looking enough
So she worked her way over
She shot him a wink
He took his last five bucks
He bought her a drink
By the time they hit the Motel 6
They figured they was in love (love love love)
She loved that easy money
It's sad but it's true
Everybody wants the most they can possible get
For the least they can possibly do
They want that easy money
I don't understand.
Lord God they scheme and they plan
But they can't get their hands on that easy money.
Tell it like it is, all right
It must have been about two weeks later
He got a call from a business friend
Who'd found a sure-fire steal of an investment deal
And honey guess what? He's gonna let both of us in
So they took all their savings out of the bank
And on the way home they stopped to gas up the tank
She stepped in for some cigs
And she never saw the fucker again
He got that easy money
It's sad but it's true
Everybody wants the most they can possible get
For the least they can possibly do
He thinks it's easy money
I don't understand.
You scheme and you plan
You ain't got your hands on no easy money.
You scheme and you plan
You ain't got your hands on no easy money.
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Easy Money Lyrics as written by Todd Snider
Lyrics © KEITH SYKES MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
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.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“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.