"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.
Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination
I realized quickly when I knew I should
That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man
For whatever that means
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I, I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning and I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream from the top of my lungs
"What's going on?"
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey"
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey"
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, uh-huh
Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, uh-huh
And I try, oh my God, do I try
I try all the time
In this institution
And I pray, oh my God, do I pray
I pray every single day
For a revolution
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I, I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream from the top of my lungs
"What's going on?"
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey"
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey"
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey (wake in the morning and step outside)
Hey-ey-ey" (take a deep breath and I get real high)
I said, "Hey, what's going on?" (And I scream, what's going on?)
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-eh (wake in the morning and step outside)
Hey-ey-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah" (take a deep breath and I get real high)
I said, "Hey, hey, what's going on?" (And I scream, what's going on?)
Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, uh-huh
Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination
I realized quickly when I knew I should
That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man
For whatever that means
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I, I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning and I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream from the top of my lungs
"What's going on?"
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey"
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey"
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, uh-huh
Ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, uh-huh
And I try, oh my God, do I try
I try all the time
In this institution
And I pray, oh my God, do I pray
I pray every single day
For a revolution
And so I cry sometimes
When I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out
What's in my head
And I, I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning
And I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream from the top of my lungs
"What's going on?"
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey"
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey
Hey-ey-ey"
I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-ey (wake in the morning and step outside)
Hey-ey-ey" (take a deep breath and I get real high)
I said, "Hey, what's going on?" (And I scream, what's going on?)
And I say, "Hey-ey-ey-ey-eh (wake in the morning and step outside)
Hey-ey-yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah" (take a deep breath and I get real high)
I said, "Hey, hey, what's going on?" (And I scream, what's going on?)
Ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, uh-huh
Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope
For a destination
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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Plastic Bag
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. I am 62. In my family we have (had) 4 blonds. I scream along with this song when life throws me curveballs. Very often in the past 10 years. I lost many. Too many to list. Younger sister to cancer. Younger brother killed himself due to all the losses and always trying to get up that hill of life. My Dad, Gma, countless losses. This song is my anthem. “What’s going on?” Countless deaths due to cancer. What’s going on? And the destination. Hope for a cure. Hope for the future? But I scream it. What’s going on? Covid on the onset. An anthem. Frustration in the world with violence? Anthem. The destination.. If you believe in God or a higher being. That is the destination. Or just to find peace in a world full of loss. Sorrow. Disappointment. Pain. Pain. The destination gives us hope. And when you suffer loss. Pain. Hope is all you have. Until you reach your destination.
Of course I did not write this song. So can not really comment on the details and feelings when it was written. This is only my adaptation and love for the song. Brotherhood of man - maybe all of us. My anthem none the less. Thank you. Helps me scream the pain out. “What’s going on? Hopefully destination. An anthem about cancer. Death and crazy things in the world. Lost over 10 close family members to cancer and widow makers (42 and 52) in the last ten years. What’s going on?
Sorry. Me again. To the writers. Whatever your feelings about this Song are yours. No one should try to put any different meaning to it. You wrote it. You knew well what the meaning is. So I do not want to disrespect that. Only to add what it it means to me. Thank you for making a song that just lets me get it all out about feeling soooo frustrated in a world I have no control over.