"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.
Hey there stranger
Do you remember?
You were a part of my life
Early December
Think I remember?
Sentiment cuts like a knife
The seasons are changing
Life's rearranging
Full of could have dones
Would a have beens
It's all your fault
And where've you been
And how times goes
And though I don't even know
How to fill in the spaces
of the love you've erased in my life
Are you where you wanted to be?
Did you get there easily?
Did I make you sacrifice?
Did you make a sharp left
When you should have turned right?
Are you where you wanted to be?
Did you sell off all of your gold
Did you trade it in?
Did you wait for love
Or settle for somebody to hold?
And barely symphonic
But strangely ironic
Moments contained in one glance
Oh how I adored you
But now I'm ignored by you.
No evidence of romance
And now it's vaguely familiar
I think I remember sharing every single intimacy
It doesn't seem so strange to me that we barely entertained
Even the politest of phrases
But sometimes at night
I conjure you up in my mind.
Are you where you wanted to be?
Did you get there easily?
Did I make you sacrifice?
Did you make a sharp left
when you should have turned right?
Are you where you wanted to be?
Did you sell off all of your gold
Did you trade it in?
Did you wait for love
Or settle for somebody to hold.
While I was busy
Perfecting the art
Of deflecting compliments
I took it too far
And I let a ripple run right through my heart
Of battle stations we're building
You and I just grew apart
We grew apart
While I decided
To make everyone else happy
I just put aside
My foolish pride
I guess I denied
My own desire
I was too busy pleasing
To ever be pleased
I forgot how to breathe
Or question anything
Or ask why?
Am I?
Am I where I wanted to be?
Did I get here easily?
Did I make a sacrifice?
Did I take a sharp left
When I should have turned right?
Am I where I wanted to be?
Can I sell off all of my gold?
Can I trade it in?
Will I wait for love
Or settle for somebody to hold.
I'd settle for somebody to hold now
You know that I've been up and I've been down
I've been picked up and spun around
I'd do it all again
If I could just have somebody to hold now
I just need somebody to hold me now
Could somebody hold me now?
I just want somebody to hold me now
I'd do it all again
Do you remember?
You were a part of my life
Early December
Think I remember?
Sentiment cuts like a knife
The seasons are changing
Life's rearranging
Full of could have dones
Would a have beens
It's all your fault
And where've you been
And how times goes
And though I don't even know
How to fill in the spaces
of the love you've erased in my life
Are you where you wanted to be?
Did you get there easily?
Did I make you sacrifice?
Did you make a sharp left
When you should have turned right?
Are you where you wanted to be?
Did you sell off all of your gold
Did you trade it in?
Did you wait for love
Or settle for somebody to hold?
And barely symphonic
But strangely ironic
Moments contained in one glance
Oh how I adored you
But now I'm ignored by you.
No evidence of romance
And now it's vaguely familiar
I think I remember sharing every single intimacy
It doesn't seem so strange to me that we barely entertained
Even the politest of phrases
But sometimes at night
I conjure you up in my mind.
Are you where you wanted to be?
Did you get there easily?
Did I make you sacrifice?
Did you make a sharp left
when you should have turned right?
Are you where you wanted to be?
Did you sell off all of your gold
Did you trade it in?
Did you wait for love
Or settle for somebody to hold.
While I was busy
Perfecting the art
Of deflecting compliments
I took it too far
And I let a ripple run right through my heart
Of battle stations we're building
You and I just grew apart
We grew apart
While I decided
To make everyone else happy
I just put aside
My foolish pride
I guess I denied
My own desire
I was too busy pleasing
To ever be pleased
I forgot how to breathe
Or question anything
Or ask why?
Am I?
Am I where I wanted to be?
Did I get here easily?
Did I make a sacrifice?
Did I take a sharp left
When I should have turned right?
Am I where I wanted to be?
Can I sell off all of my gold?
Can I trade it in?
Will I wait for love
Or settle for somebody to hold.
I'd settle for somebody to hold now
You know that I've been up and I've been down
I've been picked up and spun around
I'd do it all again
If I could just have somebody to hold now
I just need somebody to hold me now
Could somebody hold me now?
I just want somebody to hold me now
I'd do it all again
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Fast Car
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Page
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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.
Miss, I think you're right...it has to be one of the saddest things. I'm 24, I graduated after my first post (wow) and even though I'm satisfied with it...something is missing. I guess I'm not the only one to blame about our separation, but for a couple of years in my life (2000-2002) I really became close for the first time in my life to a group of people that would share everything with me (including the guy I talk so much in all the posts lol)...and all of the sudden, for several reasons, they were gone. I felt devastated. I've got some new friends now, but the feelings are just not the same. People (I think not everyone feels this way, or there wouldn't be separation) are not replaceable, and I still miss them with all my heart and wonder how can they just move on without caring too much about all those magical moments we live together... At the time (2003) it was the most haunting song I'd ever heard, I couldn't believe Darren could reflect this pain so well, and how he comes from anguish to honest sadness...in the end, he just wishes he would have someone to hold as well... :(
I remember sending an aproximate translation to all those people that were estranged and that somehow I blamed for it...but I don't really know what they thought about it (probably that I "feel too much", like always).
I wonder if I'll ever get over this feeling...or will I have to carry all this people inside of my heart and head forever, while they get on with their lives?. If they only knew the pain that unwanted abscence brings to one's existence...makes you feel guilty, like you've done something wrong to make them leave...when I guess it's just life most of the times...People moving out, people having serious relationships...but that part of life (and growing "old") hurts like hell.