"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.
As long as you got mentally dead people
Who are living in a mental death
Meaning living in a mental grave
You need somebody to dig that grave up and bring them back to life
There's no chance for a physical dead
But there's chance for the mentally dead
So we gonna come and resurrect them
That's why they call me the Rzarector
I'm about to resurrect the mental dead, by diggin' up they graves
Bringin' 'em back to the surface
Niggas is caught up in the midst of six
You better grab a hold of your crucifix
And this is it, the black God exists
Can you understand this? Let me teach you a lesson, yo
The pre-existence of the mathematical biochemical equations
The manifestations of God, Earth Air Fire and Water
Which are in it's basic formation, solid liquid and gases
That caused the land masses, and the space catalyst
And all matter that exists and is dense
Third dimension, that must be observed through physical comprehension
It takes a nerve to be struck, wisdom is the wise
Poet spoken to wake up, the dumb who've been sleeping
The fourth dimension is time, it goes inside the mind
Run the channels energized up through the back of your spine
So observe as my G energy strikes a vital nerve
One swerve of the tongue it pierces like a sword through the lung
Have you not heard, that words kill as fast as bullets
When you load negative thoughts, to the chamber of your brain
And your mouth pulls the trigger that propels
Wickedness straight from Hell
From the pits of your stomach where negativity dwell
I searched the East coast and West coast down and most found
The small towns is like ghost towns, everybody moves slowed down
From Uptown to Bucktown give a fuck now Shaolin gots the crown
And cops'll still serve you from Jamaica Ave. To Myrtle
And cats carry more shells than turtles
Brooklyn Down Park Hill pussies infertile
Buy wholesale never retail get females in deep spells
If you eat well, you sleep well
Send enemies to Hell
What makes hair skin epidermis fingernail
Regenerate, when everything else disintegrate
A Teflon vest so bullets can't penetrate
On the corner of my block there stood this old man
A black immigrant from the land of Sudan
Who used to tell stories to the children in the building
But never had a dollar to keep his pocket filled in
He bombed he knew Deuteronomy the science of Astronomy
But didn't know the basic principles about economy
I say the wise man don't play the role of a fool
The first thing a man must obtain is Twelve Jewelz
Knowledge Wisdom Understanding to help you achieve
Freedom, Justice Equality Food Clothing and Shelter
After this, Love Peace and Happiness
He had the nappiest head, I told him total satisfaction
Is to achieve one goal in the scheme of things
He who works like a slave, eats like a king
Who are living in a mental death
Meaning living in a mental grave
You need somebody to dig that grave up and bring them back to life
There's no chance for a physical dead
But there's chance for the mentally dead
So we gonna come and resurrect them
That's why they call me the Rzarector
I'm about to resurrect the mental dead, by diggin' up they graves
Bringin' 'em back to the surface
Niggas is caught up in the midst of six
You better grab a hold of your crucifix
And this is it, the black God exists
Can you understand this? Let me teach you a lesson, yo
The pre-existence of the mathematical biochemical equations
The manifestations of God, Earth Air Fire and Water
Which are in it's basic formation, solid liquid and gases
That caused the land masses, and the space catalyst
And all matter that exists and is dense
Third dimension, that must be observed through physical comprehension
It takes a nerve to be struck, wisdom is the wise
Poet spoken to wake up, the dumb who've been sleeping
The fourth dimension is time, it goes inside the mind
Run the channels energized up through the back of your spine
So observe as my G energy strikes a vital nerve
One swerve of the tongue it pierces like a sword through the lung
Have you not heard, that words kill as fast as bullets
When you load negative thoughts, to the chamber of your brain
And your mouth pulls the trigger that propels
Wickedness straight from Hell
From the pits of your stomach where negativity dwell
I searched the East coast and West coast down and most found
The small towns is like ghost towns, everybody moves slowed down
From Uptown to Bucktown give a fuck now Shaolin gots the crown
And cops'll still serve you from Jamaica Ave. To Myrtle
And cats carry more shells than turtles
Brooklyn Down Park Hill pussies infertile
Buy wholesale never retail get females in deep spells
If you eat well, you sleep well
Send enemies to Hell
What makes hair skin epidermis fingernail
Regenerate, when everything else disintegrate
A Teflon vest so bullets can't penetrate
On the corner of my block there stood this old man
A black immigrant from the land of Sudan
Who used to tell stories to the children in the building
But never had a dollar to keep his pocket filled in
He bombed he knew Deuteronomy the science of Astronomy
But didn't know the basic principles about economy
I say the wise man don't play the role of a fool
The first thing a man must obtain is Twelve Jewelz
Knowledge Wisdom Understanding to help you achieve
Freedom, Justice Equality Food Clothing and Shelter
After this, Love Peace and Happiness
He had the nappiest head, I told him total satisfaction
Is to achieve one goal in the scheme of things
He who works like a slave, eats like a king
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Twelve Jewelz Lyrics as written by Robert F. Diggs Omar Miller
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
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.