"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.
I'm going to find me a dying river
And strike a deal with her I'll say,
"I'll fold you in two and I'll carry you away
To a place where your headwaters will flow
Clean through to your mouth."
In return I'll request a small sanctuary
By her banks where we will live with our small family
She will water our garden and clean the dirt from our skin.
While the world clamours at our door
We will dance and not let them in.
And if one day we wake up to a bed dry as a bone
Find our river stolen, find our sanctuary gone
We will stand and take stock and be grateful
For what we've not lost.
We will pack up our bags, pack our small family
Head across the valley to where the aspen trees
Shiver as they ascend - the green hills rising to blue.
At the edge of the chopping we will turn
And bid fond "adieu".
All that I know to be true
Is the touch of your hand on my skin.
One look from you can so easily soothe
All this turmoil within
As we dance cheek to cheek
With our feet so completely
Locked in a time all our own.
I stop to speak
But you gently keep me
Moving in time to the song.
And in a voice that is sloppy with gin
You say, "let the world spin."
I'm going to find me a dying river
And strike a deal with her I'll say,
"I'll fold you in two and I'll carry you away
To place where your headwaters will flow
Clean through to your mouth."
In return I'll request a small sanctuary
By her banks where we will live with our small family
She will water our garden and clean the dirt from our skin.
While the world clamours at our door
We will dance and not let them in.
And strike a deal with her I'll say,
"I'll fold you in two and I'll carry you away
To a place where your headwaters will flow
Clean through to your mouth."
In return I'll request a small sanctuary
By her banks where we will live with our small family
She will water our garden and clean the dirt from our skin.
While the world clamours at our door
We will dance and not let them in.
And if one day we wake up to a bed dry as a bone
Find our river stolen, find our sanctuary gone
We will stand and take stock and be grateful
For what we've not lost.
We will pack up our bags, pack our small family
Head across the valley to where the aspen trees
Shiver as they ascend - the green hills rising to blue.
At the edge of the chopping we will turn
And bid fond "adieu".
All that I know to be true
Is the touch of your hand on my skin.
One look from you can so easily soothe
All this turmoil within
As we dance cheek to cheek
With our feet so completely
Locked in a time all our own.
I stop to speak
But you gently keep me
Moving in time to the song.
And in a voice that is sloppy with gin
You say, "let the world spin."
I'm going to find me a dying river
And strike a deal with her I'll say,
"I'll fold you in two and I'll carry you away
To place where your headwaters will flow
Clean through to your mouth."
In return I'll request a small sanctuary
By her banks where we will live with our small family
She will water our garden and clean the dirt from our skin.
While the world clamours at our door
We will dance and not let them in.
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
River Waltz Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © PAZ JUNK MUSIC INC
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.