"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.
Could you whisper in my ear?
The things you wanna feel
I'll give you anything
To feel it coming
Do you wake up on your own
And wonder where you are?
You live with all your faults
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all
So why don't you slide?
Yeah, I'm gonna let it slide
Don't you love the life you killed?
The priest is on the phone
Your father hit the wall
Your ma disowned you
Don't supposed I'll ever know
What it means to be a man
It's something I can't change
I'll live around it
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all
So why don't you slide
Ooh, slide
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothing that fall
Oh, May
Put your arms around me
What you feel is what you are
And what you are is beautiful
Oh, May
Do you wanna get married or run away?
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothing that fall
Oh, May
Put your arms around me
What you feel is what you are
And what you are is beautiful
Oh, May
Do you wanna get married or run away?
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything
(Yeah, slide)
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete (yeah, slide)
Little pieces of the nothing that fall (yeah, slide)
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete (yeah, slide)
Little pieces of the nothing that fall (oh, oh slide)
Yeah, slide between the sheets of all them beds you never knew (yeah, slide)
Why don't you slide into my room
Just slide into my room
Oh, we'll run away, run away, run away
The things you wanna feel
I'll give you anything
To feel it coming
Do you wake up on your own
And wonder where you are?
You live with all your faults
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all
So why don't you slide?
Yeah, I'm gonna let it slide
Don't you love the life you killed?
The priest is on the phone
Your father hit the wall
Your ma disowned you
Don't supposed I'll ever know
What it means to be a man
It's something I can't change
I'll live around it
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all
So why don't you slide
Ooh, slide
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothing that fall
Oh, May
Put your arms around me
What you feel is what you are
And what you are is beautiful
Oh, May
Do you wanna get married or run away?
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete
Little pieces of the nothing that fall
Oh, May
Put your arms around me
What you feel is what you are
And what you are is beautiful
Oh, May
Do you wanna get married or run away?
I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything
(Yeah, slide)
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete (yeah, slide)
Little pieces of the nothing that fall (yeah, slide)
And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete (yeah, slide)
Little pieces of the nothing that fall (oh, oh slide)
Yeah, slide between the sheets of all them beds you never knew (yeah, slide)
Why don't you slide into my room
Just slide into my room
Oh, we'll run away, run away, run away
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
John Rzeznik has said this song is his "Catholic school teenage sex-anthem" (or something along those lines).
Catholic girl finds a guy, fall in love, he gets her pregnant, she is thinking about aborting the baby... the Catholic church abolishes her, her parents are pissed... but the guy loves her and gives her a choice: "do you want to get married" (please the parents, do it the traditional way and stay out of trouble) "or run away" (who gives a flying fizuck what they think? let's get the hell out of here and live our life together, we don't need them! that'd be my choice).
Yep.
@punkynoisething
@punkynoisething
Very heartfelt song. ;... Thinking that a young man wants to be with his young girlfriend who is now pregnant..<br /> Parents are upset and dislike him.. Parent's encouraged an abortion for their daughter.?....,maybe? <br /> Young man & girl want to run away to where they can have a happy life as a family. <br /> Bottom line.....seems as though parents were A-Holes and did not understand how precious life is.<br />