"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.
I'm going in
1,2,3 and go
Like a kamikaze
Like Geronimo
A leap of faith
And I finally feel alive
3,2,1 I'm going in
I don't know if it's just me
But it seems that things aren't changing
Every day is pretty much the same
With a little rearranging
If I do nothing I can't fail
No blistered hands, no broken nails
Killing time, I'm paralysed
With faded dreams and hollow eyes
I've been waiting for a revelation
For a moment of clarity
Conflicts and convolutions
Ricochet inside of me
There comes a time for throwing caution to the wind
I feel the pulse again
I'm going in
1,2,3 and go
Like a kamikaze
Like Geronimo
A leap of faith
And I finally feel alive
3,2,1 I'm going in
1,2,3 say when
Like a flaming arrow
Soaring in the wind
A leap of faith
And I finally feel alive
3,2,1 I'm going in
I am so slow to commit
I have wasted years on fences
Is it really true the shoes don't fit
Is it only my defenses?
What if I don't measure up,
Don't listen well, don't smile enough?
Alone and unknown up to now
Need to change direction somehow
I've been open to persuasion
Wanting someone to take the lead
It's a little disconcerting
Signing up for eternity
There comes a time for throwing caution to the wind
And so my life begins
I'm going in
1,2,3 and go
Like a kamikaze
Like Geronimo
A leap of faith
And I finally feel alive
3,2,1 I'm going in
I don't know if it's just me
But it seems that things aren't changing
Every day is pretty much the same
With a little rearranging
If I do nothing I can't fail
No blistered hands, no broken nails
Killing time, I'm paralysed
With faded dreams and hollow eyes
I've been waiting for a revelation
For a moment of clarity
Conflicts and convolutions
Ricochet inside of me
There comes a time for throwing caution to the wind
I feel the pulse again
I'm going in
1,2,3 and go
Like a kamikaze
Like Geronimo
A leap of faith
And I finally feel alive
3,2,1 I'm going in
1,2,3 say when
Like a flaming arrow
Soaring in the wind
A leap of faith
And I finally feel alive
3,2,1 I'm going in
I am so slow to commit
I have wasted years on fences
Is it really true the shoes don't fit
Is it only my defenses?
What if I don't measure up,
Don't listen well, don't smile enough?
Alone and unknown up to now
Need to change direction somehow
I've been open to persuasion
Wanting someone to take the lead
It's a little disconcerting
Signing up for eternity
There comes a time for throwing caution to the wind
And so my life begins
I'm going in
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
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 song is one of my favorites, and it's easy to figure out what it's about. His life seems dull, uneventful, so he decides to do something about it. There's no turning back, so he's checking his fears at the door, and going in. ;-)