"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 know he's blood but you can still turn him away
You don't owe him anything
Do you go to the dungeon?
To find out how to make peace
With your days in the dungeon
Writing a letter to you
Didn't make me feel any more peaceful
Than how I felt when we weren't speaking
Because I didn't cop to what I did
I can't love you
'Cause we're supposed to have professional boundaries
I'd like you to be schooled and in awe
As though you were kissed by god full on the lips
I'm in the front row (I'm too tired to recount the unpleasantries)
The front row with popcorn (One by one minute I want to banish you)
(The next I want to be on a deserted island with you)
I get to see you (along with my three favorite CDs)
See you (ambivalent yet in your)
Close up (bed we've yet to acknowledge what really happened)
Slid into the ditch
I have this overwhelming loss of ambition
We said let's name thirty good reasons
Why we shouldn't be together
I started by saying things like "you smoke" "you live in new jersey"
You started saying things like "you belong to the world"
All of which could have been easily refuted
But the conversation was hypothetical
I am totally short of breath for you
Why can't you shut your stuff off
I'm in the front row (and I laughed until my lungs hurt)
The front row with popcorn (I love how you bust my chops)
(You don't always feel seen sometimes you feel erasable)
I get to see you (unfortunately I cannot reciprocate)
See you (in my current state)
Close up (I think we should be careful of)
(How much time we spend together)
For a while while I'm speaking
You know how much you hate to be interrupted
Maybe spend some time alone
Fill up your proverbial cup so
That it doesn't always have to be about you
I've been wanting your undivided attention
I like the fact that you're nothing like me
Are you not burdened by the lack of
Perspective people have of your charmed life seemingly
I'm in the front row (you never meant to be ungrateful)
The front row with popcorn (or held up to be whipped)
(Or wept for certainly not analyzed, prodded at more ways than one)
I get to see you (apparently you've been misrepresented)
See you (dealing with the concept of arrows being)
Close up (slung towards your outrageous fortune)
Hey, I'm not mad at you guardian
I'm mad at myself for spending so much time
With you and your Jekyll and Hydeness
I'm glad I figuratively slapped you on the wrist
You laughed a wicked laugh
And said "come here let me clip your wings!"
I know he's blood but you can still turn him away
You don't owe him anything
"Raise the roof," he yelled
"Yeah, raise the roof," I yelled back
Unfortunately you needed a health scare to reprioritize
No thanks to the soap box
Having me rile against them
Won't make an ounce of difference
I'm in the front row (oh, the things I've done for you)
The front row with popcorn (many a stitch a friend)
(A man's been left for you, oh, the books I've read for you)
(The tongues I've bitten for you)
I get to see you (many a new city for you)
See you (many a risk taken for you)
Close up (not a single regret)
You don't owe him anything
Do you go to the dungeon?
To find out how to make peace
With your days in the dungeon
Writing a letter to you
Didn't make me feel any more peaceful
Than how I felt when we weren't speaking
Because I didn't cop to what I did
I can't love you
'Cause we're supposed to have professional boundaries
I'd like you to be schooled and in awe
As though you were kissed by god full on the lips
I'm in the front row (I'm too tired to recount the unpleasantries)
The front row with popcorn (One by one minute I want to banish you)
(The next I want to be on a deserted island with you)
I get to see you (along with my three favorite CDs)
See you (ambivalent yet in your)
Close up (bed we've yet to acknowledge what really happened)
Slid into the ditch
I have this overwhelming loss of ambition
We said let's name thirty good reasons
Why we shouldn't be together
I started by saying things like "you smoke" "you live in new jersey"
You started saying things like "you belong to the world"
All of which could have been easily refuted
But the conversation was hypothetical
I am totally short of breath for you
Why can't you shut your stuff off
I'm in the front row (and I laughed until my lungs hurt)
The front row with popcorn (I love how you bust my chops)
(You don't always feel seen sometimes you feel erasable)
I get to see you (unfortunately I cannot reciprocate)
See you (in my current state)
Close up (I think we should be careful of)
(How much time we spend together)
For a while while I'm speaking
You know how much you hate to be interrupted
Maybe spend some time alone
Fill up your proverbial cup so
That it doesn't always have to be about you
I've been wanting your undivided attention
I like the fact that you're nothing like me
Are you not burdened by the lack of
Perspective people have of your charmed life seemingly
I'm in the front row (you never meant to be ungrateful)
The front row with popcorn (or held up to be whipped)
(Or wept for certainly not analyzed, prodded at more ways than one)
I get to see you (apparently you've been misrepresented)
See you (dealing with the concept of arrows being)
Close up (slung towards your outrageous fortune)
Hey, I'm not mad at you guardian
I'm mad at myself for spending so much time
With you and your Jekyll and Hydeness
I'm glad I figuratively slapped you on the wrist
You laughed a wicked laugh
And said "come here let me clip your wings!"
I know he's blood but you can still turn him away
You don't owe him anything
"Raise the roof," he yelled
"Yeah, raise the roof," I yelled back
Unfortunately you needed a health scare to reprioritize
No thanks to the soap box
Having me rile against them
Won't make an ounce of difference
I'm in the front row (oh, the things I've done for you)
The front row with popcorn (many a stitch a friend)
(A man's been left for you, oh, the books I've read for you)
(The tongues I've bitten for you)
I get to see you (many a new city for you)
See you (many a risk taken for you)
Close up (not a single regret)
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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”
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.
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.
I really like this song. Everytime I listen to it new lines seem to stick out and grab my attention.
I like the part:
"we said let's name thirty good reasons why we shouldn't be together i started by saying things like 'you smoke' 'you live in new jersey (too far)' you started saying things like 'you belong to the world' all of which could have been easily refuted but the conversation was hypothetical I am totally short of breath for you why can't you shut your stuff off...... "
The relationship is so negative that they're trying to come up with reasons to break up. He speaks abstractly and says she belongs to the world . . . she's famous perhaps, or she travels all the time and isn't there for him in a physical sense. She says he lives in NJ and smokes . . . things that can be changed. Then, she relizes that all of this brainstorming isn't going to change anything because she is so into him . . . an emotional-mental bond rather than physical . . . she asks why he can't shut his stuff off . . . probably referring to the way his mind works and how she loves that despite the fact that the relationship isn't working.
i also like the line:
"You laughed a wicked laugh and said 'come here, yet me clip your wings"
She recognizes that being with him is causing her to lose her spirit and freedom. In a way it seems like she admires him so much that she neglects her own thoughts and opinions . . . she's infatuated and it's taking away part of who she is. Perhaps this goes back to his reason for why they should break up . . . "you belong to the world" He wants to ground her and prevent her from traveling and doing what she wants to do. He wants to clip her wings and keep her to himself . . . like a pet bird. The very thing she likes most about him (his mind and freedom) is what he wants to supress in her.