"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.
Forced by the pressure
The territories marked
No longer the pleasure
Oh, I've since lost the heart
Corrupted from memory
No longer the power
It's creeping up slowly
That last fatal hour
Oh, I don't what made me
What gave me the right
To mess with your values
And change wrong to right
Please keep your distance
The trail leads to here
There's blood on your fingers
Brought on by fear
I campaigned for nothing
I worked hard for this
I tried to get to you
You treat me like this
It's just second nature
It's what we've been shown
We're living by your rules
That's all that we know
I tried to get to you
I tried to get to you
I tried to get to you
Oh, I tried to get to you
The territories marked
No longer the pleasure
Oh, I've since lost the heart
Corrupted from memory
No longer the power
It's creeping up slowly
That last fatal hour
Oh, I don't what made me
What gave me the right
To mess with your values
And change wrong to right
Please keep your distance
The trail leads to here
There's blood on your fingers
Brought on by fear
I campaigned for nothing
I worked hard for this
I tried to get to you
You treat me like this
It's just second nature
It's what we've been shown
We're living by your rules
That's all that we know
I tried to get to you
I tried to get to you
I tried to get to you
Oh, I tried to get to you
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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”
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,
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
I feel as though this is about someone falling out of love with another; someone in the act of cheating. He (just because it's easier then they) is "forced by the pressure" of another's affection to stay faithful, but he's lost the feeling that he once had for this person. He knows what he did was wrong, but still feels the need to blame his partner (I tried to get to you, but you treat me like this); perhaps she didn't want to, or couldn't keep up with his fast lifestyle.
Courting can sort of be looked at as a sort of election; you have the girl (again, just because it's simpler for me to explain) who is debating on which candidate to elect for the position of boyfriend. To call the song Candidate, but voice it as who has already been "elected" is sort of like saying the relationship is over, but he's stepping back up in attempt to get her back.