"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 know the night I met you
My eyes had been looking for you
All over everywhere
Over low roads, down highways, and bald deserts
You know the night
You know the night
Your eyes had this same shine about 'em, I noticed
And when I first looked through the wild, wayward mist
I felt such a warm friendly, cool sunny smile
That I wanted to look in your eyes for all time
And I felt like you feel
When you feel like the angels are curling your hair
And you feel like the devil is scratching your heel
I just felt like you feel
When you feel like the angels are curling your hair
And you feel like the devil is scratching your heel
Did you feel this way too when I met you?
You know the night I first met you
Did you look at me and think
Here's this guy who hopes like I hope
And sees the same kind of dreams I see
'Cause you wondered, I know
If your hopes could find shape
In the words that we used there to work back the fog
Your hopes and your plans for the good of the people
Could all of your hundred and one
Dreams just as bright as the sun
And all your wants and your hottest desires
Find shape in the flow of my talk?
You know the night
You know the night
And if my jellied brain turns to ashes and sand
There will still be such night smiles across all the land
There will still be such faces meeting here in the dark
And there around the corner, or maybe in the park
It's when we meet this way and we look at each other
We get a hold of our scattered aims and we bring em'
And beat them and wrestle and fight them and heat them
And beat them and weld them together
Like iron from the valley and fire from the sky
Like iron from the valley and fire from the sky
Like iron from the valley and fire from the sky
This blast furnace heat burns in our people's eyes
You know the night I met you
My eyes had been looking for you
All over everywhere
Over low roads, down highways, and bald deserts
And I felt like you feel
When you feel like the angels are curling your hair
And you feel like the devil is scratching your heel
I just felt like you feel
When you feel like the angels are curling your hair
And you feel like the devil is scratching your heel
My eyes had been looking for you
All over everywhere
Over low roads, down highways, and bald deserts
You know the night
You know the night
Your eyes had this same shine about 'em, I noticed
And when I first looked through the wild, wayward mist
I felt such a warm friendly, cool sunny smile
That I wanted to look in your eyes for all time
And I felt like you feel
When you feel like the angels are curling your hair
And you feel like the devil is scratching your heel
I just felt like you feel
When you feel like the angels are curling your hair
And you feel like the devil is scratching your heel
Did you feel this way too when I met you?
You know the night I first met you
Did you look at me and think
Here's this guy who hopes like I hope
And sees the same kind of dreams I see
'Cause you wondered, I know
If your hopes could find shape
In the words that we used there to work back the fog
Your hopes and your plans for the good of the people
Could all of your hundred and one
Dreams just as bright as the sun
And all your wants and your hottest desires
Find shape in the flow of my talk?
You know the night
You know the night
And if my jellied brain turns to ashes and sand
There will still be such night smiles across all the land
There will still be such faces meeting here in the dark
And there around the corner, or maybe in the park
It's when we meet this way and we look at each other
We get a hold of our scattered aims and we bring em'
And beat them and wrestle and fight them and heat them
And beat them and weld them together
Like iron from the valley and fire from the sky
Like iron from the valley and fire from the sky
Like iron from the valley and fire from the sky
This blast furnace heat burns in our people's eyes
You know the night I met you
My eyes had been looking for you
All over everywhere
Over low roads, down highways, and bald deserts
And I felt like you feel
When you feel like the angels are curling your hair
And you feel like the devil is scratching your heel
I just felt like you feel
When you feel like the angels are curling your hair
And you feel like the devil is scratching your heel
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
You Know the Night Lyrics as written by Rob Wasserman Jackson Browne
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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.