"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.
The sun goes down, life is like a merry-go-round
I try to get a grip on that slippery ground
What goes up must come down, I'm in too deep.
This night will be another restless sleep
So I'll go on and try to get my conscience free
I'll stop my enemy to free my dignity
Last night I dreamed what tomorrow might brings
I'm not your puppet I don't give a fuck I'll cut off the strings
My straightjacket fits, the sleeves made by society
It's always the same they chain me cause I'm insane
My hands, stained with blood but my mission is gods will
It's like a thrill I've got to kill
So lay your cards on the table it's time to play
This game's called "live and let die" so what you gotta say
I've got nothing to lose so I don't bring no sacrifice
But I realized that you have to pay the price
Flatlines, tell me your fuckin' lies
Flatlines, but now it's time for you to die
Sitting all alone in my room with the radio on
I don't know what to do 'cause I don't know what's going on
My mind is clear, so why do I have this fear
To look at my face to see these eyes full of tears
Crying yes crying all the time about my memories
Realizing that my life is full of tragedies
Stuck between two worlds and I can't stand the agony
Reality is my dream so won't you please take this pain from me
Shadows on the wall where are they from, another dream
I've got enough of this , back to reality
I've got a message for you and you might believe me it's true
You'll never see me crying again cause I'll break your rules
A dream about a perfect world is your identity
But beware of the fact, that I'm your enemy
The one who's gonna step up to you and show you that your rules
Are the rules of a fool
Flatlines, look into my eyes
Flatlines, tell me your fucked up lies
Flatlines, and now it's time for you to die
Flatlines, so bye bye chump
Flatlines, and now it's nothing but a flatline
I try to get a grip on that slippery ground
What goes up must come down, I'm in too deep.
This night will be another restless sleep
So I'll go on and try to get my conscience free
I'll stop my enemy to free my dignity
Last night I dreamed what tomorrow might brings
I'm not your puppet I don't give a fuck I'll cut off the strings
My straightjacket fits, the sleeves made by society
It's always the same they chain me cause I'm insane
My hands, stained with blood but my mission is gods will
It's like a thrill I've got to kill
So lay your cards on the table it's time to play
This game's called "live and let die" so what you gotta say
I've got nothing to lose so I don't bring no sacrifice
But I realized that you have to pay the price
Flatlines, tell me your fuckin' lies
Flatlines, but now it's time for you to die
Sitting all alone in my room with the radio on
I don't know what to do 'cause I don't know what's going on
My mind is clear, so why do I have this fear
To look at my face to see these eyes full of tears
Crying yes crying all the time about my memories
Realizing that my life is full of tragedies
Stuck between two worlds and I can't stand the agony
Reality is my dream so won't you please take this pain from me
Shadows on the wall where are they from, another dream
I've got enough of this , back to reality
I've got a message for you and you might believe me it's true
You'll never see me crying again cause I'll break your rules
A dream about a perfect world is your identity
But beware of the fact, that I'm your enemy
The one who's gonna step up to you and show you that your rules
Are the rules of a fool
Flatlines, look into my eyes
Flatlines, tell me your fucked up lies
Flatlines, and now it's time for you to die
Flatlines, so bye bye chump
Flatlines, and now it's nothing but a flatline
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Flatlines Lyrics as written by Daniel Laudahn Axel Horn
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
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"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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.
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.