"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.
Yeah I wanna dedicate this to everybody that love hip hop music
Cause without hip hop music I wouldn't be here today
Preacher's son, yeah
Imagine if biggie and pac never got shot
And they both still were rulers of hip hop
And puffy and suge was roomates from college
And big l never got found in the alley
Nas and jay-z they were still homies
Squash the beef with ja rule and 50
Benzino shook hands with eminem
And on the same record I heard eve, fox and kim
And sometimes when I dream, that's when I wake up
I kinda hoped that the fugees didn't break up
And when they walked into the studio I prayed they didn't spray
Cause I miss that scratch from jam master jay (whoa oh oh!!!)
Shots go off, mother's cry
Death since rise, homicide
Black on black crime needs to stop
Y'all can't blame it on hip hop
Cause what we say is what we see
What we see is reality
The ghetto's the ghetto you got them livin in sorrow
Soon they won't live to see tomorrow
Imagine if big pun was still alive
I could see fat joe screamin terror squad
Imagine if there were still four survivors still in destiny's child
And tlc never lost they left eye
Imagine refugees never needin a passport
And john forte never at newark airport
Million man march, man, that was a start
Now I need a million more to meet me at central park
When the revolution start y'all 'gon have to play this
Imagine slick rick not gettin deported (whoa oh oh!)
Shots go off, mother's cry
Death since rise, homicide
Black on black crime needs to stop
Y'all can't blame it on hip hop
Cause what we say is what we see
What we see is reality
The ghetto's the ghetto you got them livin in sorrow
Soon they won't live to see tomorrow
In the club never though shyne shot the gun
But in the limosine jlo had to run
Paparazzi snappin shots through the mirror
That's when I saw a smile from princess diana
Back and forth and forth and back
Like miss aaliyah man do I miss her
The war goes on with the roc and the lox
Murder inc, g- unit it's a fight to the top
Stop! we lost too many soldiers like freaky tah
While they get the cover of a magazine who got to die
Shots go off, mother's cry
Death since rise, homicide
Black on black crime needs to stop
Y'all can't blame it on hip hop
Cause what we say is what we see
What we see is reality
The ghetto's the ghetto you got them livin in sorrow
Soon they won't live to see tomorrow
Yeah, peace be with y'all
Cause without hip hop music I wouldn't be here today
Preacher's son, yeah
Imagine if biggie and pac never got shot
And they both still were rulers of hip hop
And puffy and suge was roomates from college
And big l never got found in the alley
Nas and jay-z they were still homies
Squash the beef with ja rule and 50
Benzino shook hands with eminem
And on the same record I heard eve, fox and kim
And sometimes when I dream, that's when I wake up
I kinda hoped that the fugees didn't break up
And when they walked into the studio I prayed they didn't spray
Cause I miss that scratch from jam master jay (whoa oh oh!!!)
Shots go off, mother's cry
Death since rise, homicide
Black on black crime needs to stop
Y'all can't blame it on hip hop
Cause what we say is what we see
What we see is reality
The ghetto's the ghetto you got them livin in sorrow
Soon they won't live to see tomorrow
Imagine if big pun was still alive
I could see fat joe screamin terror squad
Imagine if there were still four survivors still in destiny's child
And tlc never lost they left eye
Imagine refugees never needin a passport
And john forte never at newark airport
Million man march, man, that was a start
Now I need a million more to meet me at central park
When the revolution start y'all 'gon have to play this
Imagine slick rick not gettin deported (whoa oh oh!)
Shots go off, mother's cry
Death since rise, homicide
Black on black crime needs to stop
Y'all can't blame it on hip hop
Cause what we say is what we see
What we see is reality
The ghetto's the ghetto you got them livin in sorrow
Soon they won't live to see tomorrow
In the club never though shyne shot the gun
But in the limosine jlo had to run
Paparazzi snappin shots through the mirror
That's when I saw a smile from princess diana
Back and forth and forth and back
Like miss aaliyah man do I miss her
The war goes on with the roc and the lox
Murder inc, g- unit it's a fight to the top
Stop! we lost too many soldiers like freaky tah
While they get the cover of a magazine who got to die
Shots go off, mother's cry
Death since rise, homicide
Black on black crime needs to stop
Y'all can't blame it on hip hop
Cause what we say is what we see
What we see is reality
The ghetto's the ghetto you got them livin in sorrow
Soon they won't live to see tomorrow
Yeah, peace be with y'all
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Industry Lyrics as written by Jerry Duplessis James Dean
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.