"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.
a steady rain fell. and froze on the sidewalk. while betty made her way among the crowd. wondering aloud. which guests would be invited to the do. and worrying who'd sit next to. who's the most talented hostess of all. she live in a basement apartment. moved cat-like through the rooms. he had died and left her to struggle. ten years ago last june. now he's walking across to her. once again he's the boss of her. it's important to understand. the menu for a party must be well planned. and everyone gets along just grand. guess that plain old chicken wouldn't do. wouldn't do at all. and who's the most talented hostess of all. now betty feels his eyes upon her in the aisle. now betty turns around. presents him with her biggest brightest smile. but folks are cruel. her smile is greeted by emptiness. that shocks her in her world. an empty truth. she hurries home. and tries to shake it off. a steady rain fell and froze on the eyelids of her
Lyrics submitted by x_melancholy_x, edited by nuttyputty
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Fast Car
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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.
Punchline
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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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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“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.
I think she was once a happy homemaker, when her husband was alive. She liked planning the parties they held. She wanted to be regarded as the most talented hostess of all. But she is delusional or daydreaming. Likely delusional since she is talking to herself out loud. She wants to escape from her lonely life in a basement apartment.
This story is told in two voices: Betty's delusional monologue (ie. "guess that plain old chicken wouldn't do") and that of the narrator.
The song ends with Betty being startled back to reality and breaking the delusion. She thinks she spots her husband in the grocery store aisle but it turns out to be a stranger. She realizes she isn't preparing for a gathering, that she lives alone, and that her husband is dead. She runs home and this time the weather affects her because she is back in the cold harsh real world. The rain freezes on her instead of just around her.