"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 other day on the cell phone it started pretty but it ended cold
I don't know just how you feel but I can't stay distant
Desperation is for hard times, can't you see we're wasting time
I can see you in your old jeans, it's haunting me
I oh I stepped across that line
You know I didn't say forever and I didn't even mind
I oh I should've said goodbye
Now I'm holding on to your love though it isn't even mine
But one things true, you know girl, I can't see nothing but you
The situation calls for sympathy, I make mistakes cause I am me
Don't you listen to your friends right now they're just hating something
We've been together for so long, when it's right you know it can't be wrong
This ain't no hard crime, my mind is spinning
I oh I stepped across that line
You know I didn't say forever and I didn't even mind
I oh I should've said goodbye
Now I'm holding on to your love though it isn't even mine
But one things true, you know girl, I can't see nothing but you
Here in isolation, where the better thoughts come through
You were all I needed, you were every dream come true
Our situation, no it's not lost
Just take my hand, and never stop
I oh I stepped across that line
You know I didn't say forever and I didn't even mind
I oh I should've said goodbye
Now I'm holding on to your love though it isn't even mine
But one things true, you know girl, I can't see nothing but you
You know I can't see nothing
And I didn't know why
You know girl, I should have said goodbye
Now I'm losing my mind
You know, I can't see nothing but you
Oh I can't see nothing
You know girl, I can't see nothing but you
I don't know just how you feel but I can't stay distant
Desperation is for hard times, can't you see we're wasting time
I can see you in your old jeans, it's haunting me
I oh I stepped across that line
You know I didn't say forever and I didn't even mind
I oh I should've said goodbye
Now I'm holding on to your love though it isn't even mine
But one things true, you know girl, I can't see nothing but you
The situation calls for sympathy, I make mistakes cause I am me
Don't you listen to your friends right now they're just hating something
We've been together for so long, when it's right you know it can't be wrong
This ain't no hard crime, my mind is spinning
I oh I stepped across that line
You know I didn't say forever and I didn't even mind
I oh I should've said goodbye
Now I'm holding on to your love though it isn't even mine
But one things true, you know girl, I can't see nothing but you
Here in isolation, where the better thoughts come through
You were all I needed, you were every dream come true
Our situation, no it's not lost
Just take my hand, and never stop
I oh I stepped across that line
You know I didn't say forever and I didn't even mind
I oh I should've said goodbye
Now I'm holding on to your love though it isn't even mine
But one things true, you know girl, I can't see nothing but you
You know I can't see nothing
And I didn't know why
You know girl, I should have said goodbye
Now I'm losing my mind
You know, I can't see nothing but you
Oh I can't see nothing
You know girl, I can't see nothing but you
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
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.