"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.
You'll never be my hometown girl
There's nothing like her in this world
I'm tired of the get around girls
Ain't nothing like my hometown girl
You told me you were cool with kickin' it
In my crib, in my pool, we be dippin' in
But some days you would look at me so different
(Ooh, why?)
Is it because I'm in the music biz?
Or you don't wanna love me when I'm just strugglin'?
But you still tell me that you're my hometown chick, why?
I'm missing someone else
This will never be the same
But I blame it on myself
Because I can't make you change
You'll never be my hometown girl
There's nothing like her in this world
I'm tired of the get around girls
Ain't nothing like my hometown girl
I can't remember when we last expressed
All the feelings in our hearts that we possess
Even though we're making love, it's not passionate
(Ooh, why?)
You keep on running back into the past
Tying to hold on to my love, but you can't make it last forever
So I must confess
I'm missing someone else
This will never be the same
But I blame it on myself
Because I can't make you change
You'll never be my hometown girl
There's nothing like her in this world
I'm tired of the get around girls
Ain't nothing like my hometown girl
There's nothing like her in this world
I'm tired of the get around girls
Ain't nothing like my hometown girl
You told me you were cool with kickin' it
In my crib, in my pool, we be dippin' in
But some days you would look at me so different
(Ooh, why?)
Is it because I'm in the music biz?
Or you don't wanna love me when I'm just strugglin'?
But you still tell me that you're my hometown chick, why?
I'm missing someone else
This will never be the same
But I blame it on myself
Because I can't make you change
You'll never be my hometown girl
There's nothing like her in this world
I'm tired of the get around girls
Ain't nothing like my hometown girl
I can't remember when we last expressed
All the feelings in our hearts that we possess
Even though we're making love, it's not passionate
(Ooh, why?)
You keep on running back into the past
Tying to hold on to my love, but you can't make it last forever
So I must confess
I'm missing someone else
This will never be the same
But I blame it on myself
Because I can't make you change
You'll never be my hometown girl
There's nothing like her in this world
I'm tired of the get around girls
Ain't nothing like my hometown girl
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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,
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.