"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.
Oh, for the sake of momentum
I've allowed my fears
To get larger than life
And it's brought me to my current agendum
Whereupon I deny fulfillment has yet to arrive
And I know life is getting shorter
I can't bring myself to set the scene
Even when it's approaching torture
I've got my routine
Oh, for the sake of momentum
Even thought I agree with that stuff
About seizing the day
But I hate to think of effort expended
All those minutes and days and hours
I've have frittered away
And I know life is getting shorter
I can't bring myself to set the scene
Even when it's approaching torture
I've got my routine
But I can't confront the doubts I have
I can't admit that maybe the past was bad
And so, for the sake of momentum,
I'm condemning the future to death
So it can match the past
I've allowed my fears
To get larger than life
And it's brought me to my current agendum
Whereupon I deny fulfillment has yet to arrive
And I know life is getting shorter
I can't bring myself to set the scene
Even when it's approaching torture
I've got my routine
Oh, for the sake of momentum
Even thought I agree with that stuff
About seizing the day
But I hate to think of effort expended
All those minutes and days and hours
I've have frittered away
And I know life is getting shorter
I can't bring myself to set the scene
Even when it's approaching torture
I've got my routine
But I can't confront the doubts I have
I can't admit that maybe the past was bad
And so, for the sake of momentum,
I'm condemning the future to death
So it can match the past
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
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
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.
Momentum is about someone who is stuck in a self-destructive pattern. She can't move forward because she's too scared. At the same time, this fear and apathy is also keeping her going, in some dysfunctional way. She's not moving forward, but it keeps her moving in the same pattern/rut she's always known. Her fear of going forward and failing, combined with her past failures, are her reasons for "condemning the future to death so it can match the past." In a way, it's almost comforting to her.