"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'm an Oval Office super queen,
With a poncho on my back,
And I was mentioning the president,
Just to give them a heart attack,
And every time they'd see me crying,
They'd wonder what's that for,
Well I'm not the kind that knows myself,,
And I'm not your average whore,
You got a meatball you can't hide,
You got to wait for to subside,
If only humanity survives,
You're gonna get a heart attack,
You're in the basement of this place,
You got a soft and friendly face,
You got enough to win this case,
It's time to get a heart attack,
But don't you need to have E. coli,
Don't you need to have Ebola,
I got a feeling in my biker shorts,
Things are gonna get much slower,
You gotta get out of the ring now,
You got a meatball you can't hide,
You got to wait for to subside,
If only humanity survives,
You're gonna get a heart attack,
You're in the basement of this place,
You got a soft and friendly face,
You got enough to win this case,
It's time to get a heart attack,
Don't you need to have E. coli,
Don't you need to have Ebola,
I got a feeling in my biker shorts,
Things are gonna get much slower,
You wanna get out of the ring now,
And when I go up north,
I'm in politics of course,
I'm going to die in Jamaica no no no,
I'm going to die in Miami no no no,
I'm going to die in Puerto Rico no no no,
I'm going to die in Hawaii no no no,
With a poncho on my back,
And I was mentioning the president,
Just to give them a heart attack,
And every time they'd see me crying,
They'd wonder what's that for,
Well I'm not the kind that knows myself,,
And I'm not your average whore,
You got a meatball you can't hide,
You got to wait for to subside,
If only humanity survives,
You're gonna get a heart attack,
You're in the basement of this place,
You got a soft and friendly face,
You got enough to win this case,
It's time to get a heart attack,
But don't you need to have E. coli,
Don't you need to have Ebola,
I got a feeling in my biker shorts,
Things are gonna get much slower,
You gotta get out of the ring now,
You got a meatball you can't hide,
You got to wait for to subside,
If only humanity survives,
You're gonna get a heart attack,
You're in the basement of this place,
You got a soft and friendly face,
You got enough to win this case,
It's time to get a heart attack,
Don't you need to have E. coli,
Don't you need to have Ebola,
I got a feeling in my biker shorts,
Things are gonna get much slower,
You wanna get out of the ring now,
And when I go up north,
I'm in politics of course,
I'm going to die in Jamaica no no no,
I'm going to die in Miami no no no,
I'm going to die in Puerto Rico no no no,
I'm going to die in Hawaii no no no,
Lyrics submitted by hornytheclown
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"
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Very esoteric, but some themes are persistent.
1.) Main character seems to be a prostitute (or a promiscuous man/woman) who pulled a Monica Lewinsky and had a sexual relationship with the president.
2.) Get the sense the person is (as expected) using this information to extort money. Or is perhaps involved in a legal battle, likely related to the extramarital affair.
"And I was mentioning the president, Just to give them a heart attack,"
"You got a soft and friendly face, You got enough to win this case, It's time to get a heart attack,"
3.) The stress of the extortion (or whatever) seems to be building and getting to the individual. But it could also be stress to the individual that is being extorted. Perhaps the stress of hiding the affair is taking its toll on the president/his staff
"You got a meatball you can't hide, You got to wait for to subside, If only humanity survives, You're gonna get a heart attack,"
4.) Main character is waiting to get money then planning to flee and live comfortably in a tropical/warmer climate, where they will relax and enjoy life.
"I got a feeling in my biker shorts, Things are gonna get much slower, You wanna get out of the ring now,"
"I'm going to die in Jamaica no no no, I'm going to die in Miami no no no, I'm going to die in Puerto Rico no no no, I'm going to die in Hawaii no no no,"