"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.
I want a diamond
I really do
I think that you
Should give me one
Then you can prove
Your love is true
And that the gift giving
Has just begun
I want that diamond
I want that thing
A tennis bra-
Celet or ring
It better shine
It better cut
I know it is expensive but
What other way
Can you make four months
Of your measly salary
Last a lifetime?
And what other thing
Have I ever axed you for?
Besides
The ability to read my mind
And I didn't get that either
Yet.
I want that diamond
I want it so
All of my irratating friends will know
That I have worth
Not only that
But that you love me even though I'm fat
I want it and I want it now.
I'll say it once I don't care how
You get it you can rob a store
There just is nothing I want more
Than diamond jewelry for me
And I'll talk louder so you'll see
How very much this means to me
Even some little stud earrings
Gimme the goddamn diamond
I really do
I think that you
Should give me one
Then you can prove
Your love is true
And that the gift giving
Has just begun
I want that diamond
I want that thing
A tennis bra-
Celet or ring
It better shine
It better cut
I know it is expensive but
What other way
Can you make four months
Of your measly salary
Last a lifetime?
And what other thing
Have I ever axed you for?
Besides
The ability to read my mind
And I didn't get that either
Yet.
I want that diamond
I want it so
All of my irratating friends will know
That I have worth
Not only that
But that you love me even though I'm fat
I want it and I want it now.
I'll say it once I don't care how
You get it you can rob a store
There just is nothing I want more
Than diamond jewelry for me
And I'll talk louder so you'll see
How very much this means to me
Even some little stud earrings
Gimme the goddamn diamond
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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,
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.
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.
this is a song Melora wrote poking fun of the Diamonds are Forever commercials.