"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.
If you want to open the hole
Just put your head down and go
Step beside the piece of the circumstance
Got to wash away the taste of evidence
Wash it away
(Evidence, evidence, evidence)
(Got to test the evidence)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
Anything you say, we know you're guilty
Hands above your head, and you won't even feel me
You won't feel me
(Didn't feel a thing)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
Didn't feel a thing
(Evidence, evidence, evidence)
(Got to test the evidence)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
Just put your head down and go
Step beside the piece of the circumstance
Got to wash away the taste of evidence
Wash it away
(Evidence, evidence, evidence)
(Got to test the evidence)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
Anything you say, we know you're guilty
Hands above your head, and you won't even feel me
You won't feel me
(Didn't feel a thing)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
Didn't feel a thing
(Evidence, evidence, evidence)
(Got to test the evidence)
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
I didn't feel a thing
It didn't mean a thing
Look in the eye and testify
I didn't feel a thing
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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.
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."
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."
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
If you want to open the hole Just put your head down and go
*Pretty much she opened the hole to their relationship's destruction. The 2nd line implies that he's thinking this while she's giving him a blow job.
Step beside the piece of the circumstance Got to wash away the taste of evidence
*Looks like she came to him after cheating and tried to have sex with him to cover up her cheating BUT he realized what she did, her betrayal, and decided to just let her blow him for what probably will be the one last time. Unfortunately that's really sad :(
Wash it away (evidence)
*Mostly self explanatory.
I didn't feel a thing It didn't mean a thing
*She tells him that she didn't feel a thing for the guy, and it didn't mean a thing. The sex she had. Unfortunately he doesn't believe it (you have to feel something for someone to have sex with them).
Look in the eye and testify: I didn't feel a thing
*She came clean, confessed. He's numb. This is a shock to him.
Anything you say, we know you're guilty Hands above your head, you won't even feel me
*He doesn't believe her, he's done with her. But she tries to have sex with him so he lets her do some foreplay (the blow job) but not full blown sex, and he's experiencing agony during this situation, even though he should be enjoying himself.
You won't feel me (evidence)
*In other words, he's done with her. His emotions are drained. He's gone out of her life. And he won't be having sex with her, even for one last time. To me, it sounds like he's heartbroken, it just seems like he loved her and was emotionally invested in her. Even though there aren't any lyrics that say that or even imply that, but the tone of the song implies that this brings him a heavy heart. But that's my opinion. Let me know what you guys think.