"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.
What if your brain,
Unexpectedly and suddenly,
Picked out things to flip around
And view a lot differently?
What if blue sky,
All of a sudden turned a purple hue?
We would shit a brick the size of all of it
What if?
What if I was just daydreaming?
What if I lived in a pear?
What if my watch read 4:20 every hour, every day?
You can bet your dollar I'd be happy!
I forgot to remember,
I forgot to remember my pain.
Take me to your leader
Or die by the fly guy!
What if mothballs,
Hangin' around too close to microwaves
Suddenly woke up and said,
"Take me to your leader
Or die by fly guy!
He'll push ya' out,
No wings attached!"
Just do as I say, no mistake,
He'll blow away.
What if I was daydreaming?
What if I lived in a pear?
What if I had a mustard drenched cucumber
Tied to my leg and I
Did not want my pants to get dirty?
What if this, what if that?!
Go! I forgot to remember
I forgot to remember my pain. Take me to your leader
Or die by the fly guy!
I forgot to remember my, pain!
My pain!
Forgot to inject my, cocaine!
Forgot to apply my, rogaine!
Forgot to remember, my pain!
I never think, I never thought,
Oh maybe I'm insane!
I think I like being
Way the fuck out of my brain!
I forgot to remember,
I forgot to remember my pain.
Take me to your leader
Or die by the fly guy!
Unexpectedly and suddenly,
Picked out things to flip around
And view a lot differently?
What if blue sky,
All of a sudden turned a purple hue?
We would shit a brick the size of all of it
What if?
What if I was just daydreaming?
What if I lived in a pear?
What if my watch read 4:20 every hour, every day?
You can bet your dollar I'd be happy!
I forgot to remember,
I forgot to remember my pain.
Take me to your leader
Or die by the fly guy!
What if mothballs,
Hangin' around too close to microwaves
Suddenly woke up and said,
"Take me to your leader
Or die by fly guy!
He'll push ya' out,
No wings attached!"
Just do as I say, no mistake,
He'll blow away.
What if I was daydreaming?
What if I lived in a pear?
What if I had a mustard drenched cucumber
Tied to my leg and I
Did not want my pants to get dirty?
What if this, what if that?!
Go! I forgot to remember
I forgot to remember my pain. Take me to your leader
Or die by the fly guy!
I forgot to remember my, pain!
My pain!
Forgot to inject my, cocaine!
Forgot to apply my, rogaine!
Forgot to remember, my pain!
I never think, I never thought,
Oh maybe I'm insane!
I think I like being
Way the fuck out of my brain!
I forgot to remember,
I forgot to remember my pain.
Take me to your leader
Or die by the fly guy!
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Blue
Ed Sheeran
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“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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
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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.
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This is a great song, a song I can always listen to, to make me feel happy