"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.
Hear the sirens, hear the sirens
Hear the sirens, hear the circus so profound
I hear the sirens more and more in this here town
Let me catch my breath to breathe then reach across the bend
Just to know we're safe, I am a grateful man
The slightest bit of light and I can see you clear
Oh, had to take your hand, and feel your breath
For fear this someday will be over
I pull you close, so much to lose
Knowing that, nothing lasts forever
I didn't care, before you were here
I danced in laughter, with the ever after
But all things change, let this remain
Hear the sirens covering distance in the night
The sound echoing closer, will they come for me next time?
For every choice, mistake I made, is not my plan
To send you in the arms of another man
And if you choose to stay, I'll wait, I'll understand
Oh, it's a fragile thing, this life we lead
If I think too much, I can get over-
Whelmed by the grace, by which we live our lives
With death over our shoulders
Want you to know, that should I go
I always loved you, held you high above too
I studied your face, the fear goes away
It's a fragile thing, this life we lead
If I think too much, I can get over-
Whelmed by the grace, by which we live our lives
With death over our shoulders
Want you to know, that should I go
I always loved you, held you high above too
I studied your face, the fear goes away
The fear goes away, the fear goes away
The fear goes away
Hear the sirens, hear the circus so profound
I hear the sirens more and more in this here town
Let me catch my breath to breathe then reach across the bend
Just to know we're safe, I am a grateful man
The slightest bit of light and I can see you clear
Oh, had to take your hand, and feel your breath
For fear this someday will be over
I pull you close, so much to lose
Knowing that, nothing lasts forever
I didn't care, before you were here
I danced in laughter, with the ever after
But all things change, let this remain
Hear the sirens covering distance in the night
The sound echoing closer, will they come for me next time?
For every choice, mistake I made, is not my plan
To send you in the arms of another man
And if you choose to stay, I'll wait, I'll understand
Oh, it's a fragile thing, this life we lead
If I think too much, I can get over-
Whelmed by the grace, by which we live our lives
With death over our shoulders
Want you to know, that should I go
I always loved you, held you high above too
I studied your face, the fear goes away
It's a fragile thing, this life we lead
If I think too much, I can get over-
Whelmed by the grace, by which we live our lives
With death over our shoulders
Want you to know, that should I go
I always loved you, held you high above too
I studied your face, the fear goes away
The fear goes away, the fear goes away
The fear goes away
Lyrics submitted by fluorine, edited by Romanza, jholguin79, cylam, speeb, RedMosquito75, cjk22
Sirens Lyrics as written by Michael David Mccready Eddie Jerome Vedder
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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Great version of a great song,
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“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.
I think it's more simple, more of a statement that you can lose everything you have in an instant. A message of appreciation to the ones that mean the most to you. I see the "sirens" as a metaphor.