"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.
(Hey, hey, hey)
(Hey, hey, hey)
(Hey, hey, hey)
(Hey, hey, hey)
People like you always want back the love they gave away
And people like me wanna believe you when you say you've changed
The more I think about it now, the less I know
All I know is that you drove us off the road
(Stay) hey, all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand then
Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?
(Stay) hey, now you say you want it back
Now that it's just too late
Well could've been easy
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was stay
Here you are now, callin' me up, but I don't know what to say
I've been pickin' up the pieces of the mess you made
People like you always want back the love they pushed aside
But people like me are gone forever when you say goodbye
(Stay) hey, all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand then
Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?
(Stay) hey, now you say you want it back
Now that it's just too late
Well, could've been easy
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay, stay, stay, stay)
Let me remind you, this was what you wanted (oh, oh, oh)
You ended it
You were all I wanted (oh, oh, oh)
But not like this
Not like this
Not like this
Oh, all you had to do was
(Stay) hey, all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand then
Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?
(Stay) hey, now you say you want it back
Now that it's just too late
Well, could've been easy
All you had to do was (stay)
Hey, all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand then
Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?
(Stay) hey, now you say you want it back
Now that it's just too late
Well, could've been easy (all you had to do was stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay) (oh)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay) (ooh)
All you had to do was (stay)
(Hey, hey, hey)
(Hey, hey, hey)
(Hey, hey, hey)
People like you always want back the love they gave away
And people like me wanna believe you when you say you've changed
The more I think about it now, the less I know
All I know is that you drove us off the road
(Stay) hey, all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand then
Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?
(Stay) hey, now you say you want it back
Now that it's just too late
Well could've been easy
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was stay
Here you are now, callin' me up, but I don't know what to say
I've been pickin' up the pieces of the mess you made
People like you always want back the love they pushed aside
But people like me are gone forever when you say goodbye
(Stay) hey, all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand then
Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?
(Stay) hey, now you say you want it back
Now that it's just too late
Well, could've been easy
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay, stay, stay, stay)
Let me remind you, this was what you wanted (oh, oh, oh)
You ended it
You were all I wanted (oh, oh, oh)
But not like this
Not like this
Not like this
Oh, all you had to do was
(Stay) hey, all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand then
Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?
(Stay) hey, now you say you want it back
Now that it's just too late
Well, could've been easy
All you had to do was (stay)
Hey, all you had to do was stay
Had me in the palm of your hand then
Why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?
(Stay) hey, now you say you want it back
Now that it's just too late
Well, could've been easy (all you had to do was stay)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay) (oh)
All you had to do was (stay)
All you had to do was (stay) (ooh)
All you had to do was (stay)
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
This is how Taylor explained the creation of the song in her interview with The Times:
There’s a song on my album called “All You Had to Do Was Stay.” I was having this dream, that was actually one of those embarrassing dreams, where you’re mortified in the dream, you’re like humiliated. In the dream, my ex had come to the door to beg for me to talk to him or whatever, and I opened up the door and I went to go say, “Hi,” or “What are you doing here?” or something—something normal—but all that came out was this high-pitched singing that said, “Stay!” It was almost operatic. So I wrote this song, and I used that sound in the song. Weird, right? I woke up from the dream, saying the weird part into my phone, figuring I had to include it in something because it was just too strange not to. In pop, it’s fun to play around with little weird noises like that.
In this song Taylor points out that no matter what she does, she cannot indeed make anyone “stay”; that decision is always up to the other person and therefore out of her control.
This particular guy’s indecision (breaking up and then wanting to get back together) put the final nail on the relationship’s coffin.
Completing what plays like a three-song cycle that begins with “Style” and “Out of the Woods,” “All You Had to Do Was Stay” sees the man who was unwilling to commit (Swift has implied that this one, too, is about Styles) come crawling back to her. He may “want it back,” but—as Swift sings with a nearly audible wagging finger—“It’s just too late.” While perhaps not as memorable as the other two songs, the track gets points for attitude.
The fifth track in Taylor Swift’s album 1989 is another song about Swift’s trouble with mantaining a lasting relationship, despite of her best efforts.
One vibe that I get with this song is that she was always giving more in the relationship than he was-she was doing all the work and that's why all the guy had to do was stay, which he couldn't. So then when he comes back to her wanting another chance, she can't accept it because she's done pulling more than her weight in that relationship.