"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.
Nothing was saving our day
There was nothing to say,
But you said something anyway
Claiming I stepped out of line
Which forced you to leave me
As if that idea was mine.
Oh, you stupid thing
Speaking of course as your dear departed
Oh, you stupid thing
It wasn't me that you
Outsmarted
Oh, you stupid thing
Stopping it all
Before it even started.
I bet you knew it would come
That's just like you, to sit back
And just play it dumb
One word of warning would help
But that sacrifice was made
Trying to save yourself
Oh, you stupid thing
Speaking of course as your dear departed
Oh, you stupid thing
It wasn't me that you
Outsmarted
Oh, you stupid thing
Stopping it all
Before it even started.
Maybe that's just how I am
To fall where I stand, or
I'm weak for that kind of man
One who looks helpless and brave
But you turned into a coward
I don't care for the parts you saved.
You stupid thing
Speaking of course as your dear departed
Oh, you stupid thing
It wasn't me that you outsmarted
Oh, you stupid thing.
There was nothing to say,
But you said something anyway
Claiming I stepped out of line
Which forced you to leave me
As if that idea was mine.
Oh, you stupid thing
Speaking of course as your dear departed
Oh, you stupid thing
It wasn't me that you
Outsmarted
Oh, you stupid thing
Stopping it all
Before it even started.
I bet you knew it would come
That's just like you, to sit back
And just play it dumb
One word of warning would help
But that sacrifice was made
Trying to save yourself
Oh, you stupid thing
Speaking of course as your dear departed
Oh, you stupid thing
It wasn't me that you
Outsmarted
Oh, you stupid thing
Stopping it all
Before it even started.
Maybe that's just how I am
To fall where I stand, or
I'm weak for that kind of man
One who looks helpless and brave
But you turned into a coward
I don't care for the parts you saved.
You stupid thing
Speaking of course as your dear departed
Oh, you stupid thing
It wasn't me that you outsmarted
Oh, you stupid thing.
Lyrics submitted by alexandra_
Stupid Thing Lyrics as written by Aimee Mann Jon Brion
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Downtown Music Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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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.
American Town
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Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
"I bet you knew it would come that's just like you, to sit back and just play it dumb one word of warning would help but that sacrifice was made trying to save yourself"
to me this is about a guy who has been pursuing the narrator, maybe even desperately, trying to win her over, and she finally came around and opened up to him...and then something happens, he chickens out and wants to run away from what he's started, but instead of saying that to her, he makes up an excuse(saying she's said or done something stupid), doesn't even really give her any warning, and just one day quits coming around...and she feels hurt and at the same time, pissed off, because the guy seems to think he's somehow gotten the better of her or something and acts like she's the one who looks stupid, when it's his cowardice that's to blame for it all.
Hmm, my interpretation was similar, but just a little different, maybe not quite as concise as yours. It's more of... you stupid thing, we could have had it great, I would have given you the world. But, like you said, he was unwilling to commit. I think you could easily read into this song a guy who got what he wanted (i.e. getting laid), but wasn't willing to make the emotional commitment (it wasn't me that you outsmarted) and cheated himself out of the real prize (a meaningful relationship).
I think it's her talking to a guy who has essentially talked himself out of a relationship with her by being too nervous and awkward. I take it to mean that they hooked up because she likes shy kinds of guys, but it tends to leads to situations where people say something when there's nothing to say, ie. "I love you" after a one night stand. Pretty much, the pitfall of her liking shy guys is that they get too easily attached and let their emotions run away with them when the relationship is barely even established, thus them being a "stupid thing" who was too naive to know they just needed to say nothing and let things take their course. They feel like they outsmarted her by getting her to sleep with them, but really, they played themselves by being too keen.
In terms of the imagery in the video, she appears to be leaving someone's house in a relative hurry, and throughout the trip she shares the taxi with a bunch of different people who all also look like they're leaving an awkward situation or are pretending to be something they're not. This would tie in to the theme of just needing to be yourself and relax rather than being hasty and ending up looking stupid.