"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.
Hide my face again, harbor in the shadows
Feel this weight of sin hammering away
Die, with the guilt of a thousand AWOL soldiers
Die, watch the scythe usher me astray
I can't go on this way
Not as I am today
The ugly side of me is strong
Take aim, a loaded gun
Pull back on all who run
A coward's truth inside the wrong
This means war
This means war
This means war
Lash your tongue of bane
Carry me to nowhere
Mental holocaust
Battle never ends
Lie, mask the pain
Of a child who's forsaken
Lie, to myself
Praise the new regime
I left me long ago
Reasons you'll never know
No one to miss me when I'm gone
With no more words to say
No argument to stay
Another post I don't belong
This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war
No home to call my own
No finding someone new
No one to break the fall
No one to see me through
No name to carry on
No promise for today
No one to hear the call
No tattered flag to raise
Walk the razor's edge
Cut into the madness
Question all you trust
Buy into the fear
I see the man ripping at my soul now
I, I know the man
I know him all too well
There's nothing here for free
Lost who I want to be
My serpent blood can strike so cold
On any given day
I'll take it all away
Another thought I can't control
This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war
Feel this weight of sin hammering away
Die, with the guilt of a thousand AWOL soldiers
Die, watch the scythe usher me astray
I can't go on this way
Not as I am today
The ugly side of me is strong
Take aim, a loaded gun
Pull back on all who run
A coward's truth inside the wrong
This means war
This means war
This means war
Lash your tongue of bane
Carry me to nowhere
Mental holocaust
Battle never ends
Lie, mask the pain
Of a child who's forsaken
Lie, to myself
Praise the new regime
I left me long ago
Reasons you'll never know
No one to miss me when I'm gone
With no more words to say
No argument to stay
Another post I don't belong
This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war
No home to call my own
No finding someone new
No one to break the fall
No one to see me through
No name to carry on
No promise for today
No one to hear the call
No tattered flag to raise
Walk the razor's edge
Cut into the madness
Question all you trust
Buy into the fear
I see the man ripping at my soul now
I, I know the man
I know him all too well
There's nothing here for free
Lost who I want to be
My serpent blood can strike so cold
On any given day
I'll take it all away
Another thought I can't control
This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war
This means war
Lyrics submitted by Bskiffington, edited by Reckless087
This Means War Lyrics as written by Jonathan Seward Brian Haner
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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In my opinion MillerTime88 and anon23 hit it spot on there. I can relate to this interpretation of the song completely and it is pretty much how I’ve seen it. This song could be about me and I’ve been listening to this song a lot lately. Sometimes feeling angry, sometimes crying my eyes out. I’ve taken this as a theme song in my battle out of this mess I’ve become. Being too good hearted, kind, forgiving and ever trusting I ended up being hurt so much in my life I lost myself in order to survive emotionally. I couldn’t take the emotional beating anymore, I had to get on top and found I didn’t like who I had become. There was the man ripping at my soul now – myself, acting like the ones I had disrespected the most in my life. A sucker playing with other people’s emotions and life. Not intentionally but for some reason I ended up doing so, I felt out of control. I was safe from others but I couldn’t escape the guilt I realized I need to change in order to respect myself. I tried to feel better but ended up feeling worse.
I hid my face so I wouldn’t hurt anyone, I hid my face to protect myself from attacks of envy, I hid my face because of shame and guilt. I’ve forgiven myself the wrongdoing but accept no more new, I’m so sorry for all the bad. I just hope I could feel love, find someone new and have her see through me as I truly am, a good person who just got lost along the way. First I need to prove me to myself, you can’t feel deserving of love unless you love yourself, you can’t love unless you can’t trust. To trust you must not fear.