"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 don't always tell the truth
They don't mind it if you're tall where I'm from
Anyone I find intrusive
You won't bother if you choose me
I don't only think of you
Eyes can tell I'm insecure; chloroform
I would rather stand if you stay
Why would I lie to you?
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
Cruel
Buckle up, we'll chase each other
It's not a lot it's just enough to matter
Anyway you want the truth is
I will marry you on Tuesday
I don't always tell the truth
If you want it you could lose, don't bother
I don't like it if you miss me
Why would I long for you?
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
Cruel
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
Cruel
Would I long for you?
Is it up to you?
Is it up to you?
Ah ah ah ah
They don't mind it if you're tall where I'm from
Anyone I find intrusive
You won't bother if you choose me
I don't only think of you
Eyes can tell I'm insecure; chloroform
I would rather stand if you stay
Why would I lie to you?
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
Cruel
Buckle up, we'll chase each other
It's not a lot it's just enough to matter
Anyway you want the truth is
I will marry you on Tuesday
I don't always tell the truth
If you want it you could lose, don't bother
I don't like it if you miss me
Why would I long for you?
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
Cruel
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love is,
My love, my love, my love, my love is,
Cruel
Would I long for you?
Is it up to you?
Is it up to you?
Ah ah ah ah
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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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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.
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.
These lyrics really are hard to gauge. I think the writer is, more than anything, expressing indifference towards whoever he is lying to. He acknowledges that he is in some sort of relationship with this person, but at the same time, he is indifferent to their feelings, and is fully aware of his lack of compassion towards this individual. If I had to guess I'd say that these lyrics were intended to be read by that individual in the hopes that they would leave the writer because he is caring just enough that he won't end things with this person himself.