"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.
Give me time to reason
Give me time to think it through
Passing through the season
Where I cheated you
I will always have a cross to wear
But the bolt reminds me I was there
So give me strength to face this test tonight
If only I could turn back time
If only I had said what I still hide
If only I could turn back time
I would stay for the night
For the night
Claim your right to science
Claim your right to see the truth
Though my pangs of conscience
Will drill a hole in you
I seen it coming like a thief in the night
I seen it coming from the flash of your light
So give me strength to face this test tonight
If only I could turn back time
If only I had said what I still hide
If only I could turn back time
I would stay
(The bolt reminds me I was there)
(The bolt reminds me I was there)
If only I could turn back time
If only I had said what I still hide
If only I could turn back time
I would stay for the night
If only I could turn back time
If only I had said what I still hide
If only I could turn back time
I would stay for the night
If only I could (if only I could)
If only I could (if only I could)
If only I could turn back time
I would stay for the night
If only I could (if only I could, if only I could)
If only I could (if only I could, if only I could)
If only I could turn back time
I would stay for the night
If only I could (if only I could, if only I could)
If only I could (if only I could, if only I could)
If only I could turn back time
Give me time to think it through
Passing through the season
Where I cheated you
I will always have a cross to wear
But the bolt reminds me I was there
So give me strength to face this test tonight
If only I could turn back time
If only I had said what I still hide
If only I could turn back time
I would stay for the night
For the night
Claim your right to science
Claim your right to see the truth
Though my pangs of conscience
Will drill a hole in you
I seen it coming like a thief in the night
I seen it coming from the flash of your light
So give me strength to face this test tonight
If only I could turn back time
If only I had said what I still hide
If only I could turn back time
I would stay
(The bolt reminds me I was there)
(The bolt reminds me I was there)
If only I could turn back time
If only I had said what I still hide
If only I could turn back time
I would stay for the night
If only I could turn back time
If only I had said what I still hide
If only I could turn back time
I would stay for the night
If only I could (if only I could)
If only I could (if only I could)
If only I could turn back time
I would stay for the night
If only I could (if only I could, if only I could)
If only I could (if only I could, if only I could)
If only I could turn back time
I would stay for the night
If only I could (if only I could, if only I could)
If only I could (if only I could, if only I could)
If only I could turn back time
Lyrics submitted by oofus, edited by Infiltratethedarkinmypower
Turn Back Time Lyrics as written by Karsten Dahlgaard Johnny Pederson
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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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.
This song is one of the best (if not the best) of this band, and prove they were not only into party and "happy" songs to dance to. It belonged to the soundtrack of a movie called "Sliding Doors" that followed the life of a woman who discovered his boyfriend cheating on him, and at the same time what could have happened if she hadn't catch him. I think this song is about cheating, but personally I have always given my own personal meaning.
It makes me think about my past choices and what could have been if I would have been more open, if I had really try and fought for this guy that is still so important to me after almost 6 years. It reminds me that some things just can't change because it's too late, which is scary and too painful too even think about. "If only I could turn back time - if only I had said what I still hide"...