"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.
Knock so I'll know you're still there
Half listening, interpreting the air
Full of failing foreign tongue
My dialect of stammer come undone
I've got these threads of you and I
I use to tie my doubts down
And from four times-zones away
Still yesterday, still talking to the past
From the front seat of your car
Gravel road and falling
Falling hands and falling stars
Start the engine up
I'd like a new identity
A pseudonym, some plastic surgery
Or just a way to disappear
Someone to write me out of here
I hear you hum an unfamiliar song
Thought maybe you would come along
Perhaps you'd like to see
Some piece of this, my new philosophy is that a
Crappy tape deck somewhere
Plays a greatest hits collection
Of strange and tender moments lost
Stranded, and forgotten
I'll meet you there
I'll meet you there
Something I forgot to say
Can't find a way to make this mark more clear
So crack your skull before you weep
And I'll try to keep some part of me sincere
Half listening, interpreting the air
Full of failing foreign tongue
My dialect of stammer come undone
I've got these threads of you and I
I use to tie my doubts down
And from four times-zones away
Still yesterday, still talking to the past
From the front seat of your car
Gravel road and falling
Falling hands and falling stars
Start the engine up
I'd like a new identity
A pseudonym, some plastic surgery
Or just a way to disappear
Someone to write me out of here
I hear you hum an unfamiliar song
Thought maybe you would come along
Perhaps you'd like to see
Some piece of this, my new philosophy is that a
Crappy tape deck somewhere
Plays a greatest hits collection
Of strange and tender moments lost
Stranded, and forgotten
I'll meet you there
I'll meet you there
Something I forgot to say
Can't find a way to make this mark more clear
So crack your skull before you weep
And I'll try to keep some part of me sincere
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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”
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[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.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
It's always seemed like John was in the prime of his lyric writing during Fallow. This song is a prime example, although all his other lyrics are still better than any lyricist in these days, and I'd say ever.