"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 stand firm for our soil (a source)
Lick a rock on foil (nigga I'll come forth)
Say reduce me, seduce me (They juice me, seduce me)
Dress me up in Stussy
Hell is round the corner where I shelter
Ism's and schisms
We're living helter skelter (been livin' on a study)
If you believe and (or) deceive common sense says shouldn't receive
Let me take you down the corridors of my life
And when you walk, do you walk to your preference?
No need to answer till I take further evidence
I seem to need a reference to get residence
A reference to your preference to say
I'm a good neighbor, I trudge (shrug)
So judge me for labor
The bond on me ensures (lobotomy) my good behavior
The constant struggle (strum) ensures my insanity
Passing the ignorance ensures the struggle for my family
We're hungry beware of our appetite
Distant drums bring the news of a kill tonight
The kill which I share with my passengers
We take our fill, take our fill, take our fill
I stand firm for our soil (a source)
Lick a rock on foil (nigga I'll come forth)
Say reduce me, seduce me (they juice me, seduce me)
Dress me up in Stussy
Confused by different memories
Details of Asian remedies
Conversations, of what's become of enemies
My brain thinks bomb-like
So I listen he's a calm type
And as I grow, I grow collective
Before the move sit on the perspective
Mr. Quaye (Mr. Kray) lay in the crevice (distant cradle in the crevice)
And watches from the precipice
Imperial passage
Heat from the sun some days slowly passes
Until then, you have to live with yourself
Until then, you have to live with yourself
I stand firm for our soil (a source)
Lick a rock on foil (nigga I'll come forth)
Say reduce me, seduce me (They juice me, seduce me)
Dress me up in Stussy
Hell is round the corner where I shelter
Ism's and schisms
We're living helter skelter (been livin' on a study)
If you believe and deceive common sense says shouldn't receive
Let me take you down the corridor
My brain thinks bomb-like
Bomb-like
My brain thinks bomb-like
Bomb-like, bomb-like
My brain thinks
Bomb-like
Beware of my appetite
Lick a rock on foil (nigga I'll come forth)
Say reduce me, seduce me (They juice me, seduce me)
Dress me up in Stussy
Hell is round the corner where I shelter
Ism's and schisms
We're living helter skelter (been livin' on a study)
If you believe and (or) deceive common sense says shouldn't receive
Let me take you down the corridors of my life
And when you walk, do you walk to your preference?
No need to answer till I take further evidence
I seem to need a reference to get residence
A reference to your preference to say
I'm a good neighbor, I trudge (shrug)
So judge me for labor
The bond on me ensures (lobotomy) my good behavior
The constant struggle (strum) ensures my insanity
Passing the ignorance ensures the struggle for my family
We're hungry beware of our appetite
Distant drums bring the news of a kill tonight
The kill which I share with my passengers
We take our fill, take our fill, take our fill
I stand firm for our soil (a source)
Lick a rock on foil (nigga I'll come forth)
Say reduce me, seduce me (they juice me, seduce me)
Dress me up in Stussy
Confused by different memories
Details of Asian remedies
Conversations, of what's become of enemies
My brain thinks bomb-like
So I listen he's a calm type
And as I grow, I grow collective
Before the move sit on the perspective
Mr. Quaye (Mr. Kray) lay in the crevice (distant cradle in the crevice)
And watches from the precipice
Imperial passage
Heat from the sun some days slowly passes
Until then, you have to live with yourself
Until then, you have to live with yourself
I stand firm for our soil (a source)
Lick a rock on foil (nigga I'll come forth)
Say reduce me, seduce me (They juice me, seduce me)
Dress me up in Stussy
Hell is round the corner where I shelter
Ism's and schisms
We're living helter skelter (been livin' on a study)
If you believe and deceive common sense says shouldn't receive
Let me take you down the corridor
My brain thinks bomb-like
Bomb-like
My brain thinks bomb-like
Bomb-like, bomb-like
My brain thinks
Bomb-like
Beware of my appetite
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Holiday
Bee Gees
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@[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.
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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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
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.
What makes the song so powerful is the seemingly non sequitur-like nature of the lyrics. I don't think there's one single "meaning" to discern from the text, but the imagery of Tricky's lyrics stimulates the formulation of one's own interpretation.
Personally, it speaks to me because of the melancholia of a traumatic past. Everyone with a traumatic past (and let's face it, we're all scarred) will know that "Hell" always remains "just around the corner" of where ever you are. No matter whether you got better.
To me, that's the core of the song. You can move beyond the shadows of your past, but they'll always be there. Perhaps there's some point when it's gone, but until then: you have to live with yourself.