"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.
Three started with a pebble
Twenty dollars so I wonder
Why we started tossin' doubles
To them Frankensteins
But I was blind
We tripled time
All for bullsh…
Soon bull is what life came with
So I had to quit
Never thought I'd ever be back
But what do ya know
Moms pulled the straps
So I'm out like that
Searchin for a spot in the apartment
To toss her
What's up Arthur
Treece, I can always count on Treece
But we lost Art Loc in 1989
I was smokin' up the world
Almost lost my fucking mind
What else to do
I might die by his crew
You see
They never liked me anyway
So the truce is through
Now that he's gone
Now that he's dead
Fools wanna kill me
Cuz I was able to slang
Without bein' from the family
But if I go out
I'm goin' out as a G
This is for Ten
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
This is for Ten
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
This is for Ten
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
This is for Ten
This is for Ten
This is for Ten
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
Take a drive through the heart of a hurt man
Art took a drive
To the storm
Now my brother's dead
But I already said that
Left his fuckin' family
And that shit is wack
But you know, yo
Treece
I'm getting tired of this hustling tip
I think I got a grip and a hip
Called hop
Gave her loving' blessings
As I left the cocaine block
Headed for the shop
Now I'm rapping with wizards
I would visit
But it isn't the same
No one to blame
Her lips never left his name
A shame
But that's how it is
As I hug them kids
Before it got cloudy
Tried to kick it
But the streets wouldn't let me
And forever her vision flashing in my memory
It's the same when you get to heaven
All about a party but ain't no colors wavin'
This is for my brotha
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
This is for my brotha
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
This is for my brotha
This is for my brotha
This is for my brotha
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
1993 June to the summer
I threw dice to the industry
Time to see kinfolk
Haven't spoke to her
Since I came upon the deal
So I must be real
So she could check
How I have been
Shall neva eva no longer
Too stronger
To be
Street life in
Recently a new baby born
Just before the storm
Fate took a drive with her to Texas
She's stressed
She wasn't gonna make it
Exactly like Art Loc
Road accident
Ain't that a shammy
Time for surgery
Lives are leaving me constantly
Highs ain't helping me
Deal with all this pain and misery
In my family
See they trippin'
But I know what to do
I pour out a little brew
For my niece
Cuz she was harder than all y'all bitches
This is for my niece
Cuz she was harder than all y'all bitches
This is for my niece
Cuz she was harder than all y'all bitches
This is for my niece
This is for my niece
This is for my niece
Cuz she was harder than all y'all bitches
Twenty dollars so I wonder
Why we started tossin' doubles
To them Frankensteins
But I was blind
We tripled time
All for bullsh…
Soon bull is what life came with
So I had to quit
Never thought I'd ever be back
But what do ya know
Moms pulled the straps
So I'm out like that
Searchin for a spot in the apartment
To toss her
What's up Arthur
Treece, I can always count on Treece
But we lost Art Loc in 1989
I was smokin' up the world
Almost lost my fucking mind
What else to do
I might die by his crew
You see
They never liked me anyway
So the truce is through
Now that he's gone
Now that he's dead
Fools wanna kill me
Cuz I was able to slang
Without bein' from the family
But if I go out
I'm goin' out as a G
This is for Ten
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
This is for Ten
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
This is for Ten
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
This is for Ten
This is for Ten
This is for Ten
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
Take a drive through the heart of a hurt man
Art took a drive
To the storm
Now my brother's dead
But I already said that
Left his fuckin' family
And that shit is wack
But you know, yo
Treece
I'm getting tired of this hustling tip
I think I got a grip and a hip
Called hop
Gave her loving' blessings
As I left the cocaine block
Headed for the shop
Now I'm rapping with wizards
I would visit
But it isn't the same
No one to blame
Her lips never left his name
A shame
But that's how it is
As I hug them kids
Before it got cloudy
Tried to kick it
But the streets wouldn't let me
And forever her vision flashing in my memory
It's the same when you get to heaven
All about a party but ain't no colors wavin'
This is for my brotha
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
This is for my brotha
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
This is for my brotha
This is for my brotha
This is for my brotha
Cuz he was harder than all y'all niggas
1993 June to the summer
I threw dice to the industry
Time to see kinfolk
Haven't spoke to her
Since I came upon the deal
So I must be real
So she could check
How I have been
Shall neva eva no longer
Too stronger
To be
Street life in
Recently a new baby born
Just before the storm
Fate took a drive with her to Texas
She's stressed
She wasn't gonna make it
Exactly like Art Loc
Road accident
Ain't that a shammy
Time for surgery
Lives are leaving me constantly
Highs ain't helping me
Deal with all this pain and misery
In my family
See they trippin'
But I know what to do
I pour out a little brew
For my niece
Cuz she was harder than all y'all bitches
This is for my niece
Cuz she was harder than all y'all bitches
This is for my niece
Cuz she was harder than all y'all bitches
This is for my niece
This is for my niece
This is for my niece
Cuz she was harder than all y'all bitches
Lyrics submitted by epiwoosh
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"
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”
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.
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.