"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.
It doesn't hurt me (yeah, yeah, yo)
Do you wanna feel how it feels? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Do you wanna know, know that it doesn't hurt me? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Do you wanna hear about the deal that I'm making? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
You
It's you and me
And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
Be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
Be runnin' up that building
Say, if I only could, oh
You don't wanna hurt me (yeah, yeah, yo)
But see how deep the bullet lies (yeah, yeah, yo)
Unaware I'm tearin' you asunder (yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, there is thunder in our hearts (yeah, yeah, yo)
Is there so much hate for the ones we love? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, tell me, we both matter, don't we? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
You
It's you and me
It's you and me
Won't be unhappy
And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
Be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
Be runnin' up that building (yo)
Say, if I only could, oh
You (yeah, yeah, yo)
It's you and me
It's you and me
Won't be unhappy (yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, come on, baby (yeah)
Oh, come on, darlin' (yo)
Let me steal this moment from you now
Oh, come on, angel
Come on, come on, darlin'
Let's exchange the experience (yo), oh, ooh, ooh
And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
I'd be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
With no problems
Say, if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
I'd be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
With no problems
Say, if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
I'd be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
With no problems
Say, if I only could
I'd be runnin' up that hill
With no problems
(If I only could)
(I'd be runnin' up that hill)
(If I only could)
(Be runnin' up that hill)
Do you wanna feel how it feels? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Do you wanna know, know that it doesn't hurt me? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Do you wanna hear about the deal that I'm making? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
You
It's you and me
And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
Be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
Be runnin' up that building
Say, if I only could, oh
You don't wanna hurt me (yeah, yeah, yo)
But see how deep the bullet lies (yeah, yeah, yo)
Unaware I'm tearin' you asunder (yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, there is thunder in our hearts (yeah, yeah, yo)
Is there so much hate for the ones we love? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, tell me, we both matter, don't we? (Yeah, yeah, yo)
You
It's you and me
It's you and me
Won't be unhappy
And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
Be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
Be runnin' up that building (yo)
Say, if I only could, oh
You (yeah, yeah, yo)
It's you and me
It's you and me
Won't be unhappy (yeah, yeah, yo)
Oh, come on, baby (yeah)
Oh, come on, darlin' (yo)
Let me steal this moment from you now
Oh, come on, angel
Come on, come on, darlin'
Let's exchange the experience (yo), oh, ooh, ooh
And if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
I'd be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
With no problems
Say, if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
I'd be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
With no problems
Say, if I only could
I'd make a deal with God
And I'd get Him to swap our places
I'd be runnin' up that road
Be runnin' up that hill
With no problems
Say, if I only could
I'd be runnin' up that hill
With no problems
(If I only could)
(I'd be runnin' up that hill)
(If I only could)
(Be runnin' up that hill)
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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"
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
I think at its heart, this a song about the nature of gender equality. It is a commentary on the 'woman as second class citizen' sentiment (You want to know it doesn't hurt me? Well, it does, and here's what I'm willing to do about it. Listen to this deal I'm working). Perhaps she's saying this notion stems from the belief that it has always been men who have changed the world. "God" has always been considered male. It was a man ( Jesus) who supposedly gave his life for humanity.
I think she is offering to take that challenge - to sacrifice herself - in historical and modern contexts. If she only could, she'd make a deal with god to swap places with Jesus. She'd run up that road with a cross strapped to her back. She'd run up that hill (Golgatha, the place of the skulls, where Jesus was supposedly crucified). She'd run up that (office) building and forsake her family the way men have for generations. And she'd do it with no problem if that's what it takes for the world to value her (women) as we do men.
I always wished she would have changed the God pronoun to "she" for some reason, even if it constituted some small or perhaps naive instance of sociopolitical and/or religious rebellion. I really dig your interpretation.
@Rod962 @paedophageeplayground <br /> 2nd class citizens? Regarding the Church of Scie... whoops, Church of Feminism, It will never cease to fill me with a sense of wry amusement similar to how I feel about other known types of mind-viruses, better known as religion aka bronze-age sheepherder fairytales. A void where knowledge of history is meant to be but instead tightly stuffed with victimization fibers. <br /> <br /> "But when feminists suggest that God might be a She without suggesting that the Devil might also be female, they must be opposed." ~ Warren Farrell<br /> <br /> FREE QUICK HISTORY & SOCIOLOGY LESSON [excerpt]<br /> "Perhaps the art that best reflects life is film. In the chapter on man-bashing, I review the way films bashing men reflect our culture. But 1998 did at least see two films that were masterpieces in their empathetic representation of the male experience: Saving Private Ryan and Life is Beautiful. I review them on my website but suffice it to say here that part of their significance is that they were both commercial and critical successes, representing, therefore, holes in the Lace Curtain. <br /> Unfortunately, these films were more the exception than the rule among recent films. Titanic is the rule. No reality-based film had a greater opportunity to allow the world a clearer look at men’s willingness to sacrifice their lives for women and children than Titanic, on which men died more than women at a rate of more than 9 to 1. While we know Titanic had a fictionalized storyline, it developed a reputation for being meticulously researched with many characters based on reality. In some ways that was true. But one of the most fascinating stories behind the movie is the story revealed by what is and is not fiction. When we uncover how we fictionalize reality, we discover ourselves. And we also discover the methods used by the Lace Curtain to fictionalize reality. (Which is what distinguishes this analysis from the previous chapter’s look at man bashing in films.) So welcome aboard. <br /> Titanic Fiction: A woman saves a man at the repeated risk of her life. <br /> Titanic Fact: There is no record of a woman risking her life to save an adult man, no less repeatedly. <br /> Titanic Fiction: Men in charge decided to lock third-class (steerage) passengers below the decks. <br /> Titanic Fact: Public Record Office documents in London show that this never happened—in fact, a higher percentage of men from second-class died than from third class (92 percent vs. 88 percent), and 55 percent of the third-class women lived, which would not have been possible had they been locked below. <br /> Titanic Fiction: Being poor made one even more disposable than being a man.<br /> Titanic Fact: Being a man and being poor both increased disposability, but being a man increased it significantly more than being poor. First-class men were 22 times more likely to die (66 percent vs. 3 percent) than first-class women. The richest men were significantly more likely to die than the poorest women.<br /> Theoretically, there were three classes on the Titanic. Practically, though, men were more likely to die than the citizens of the first, second, or third class. In reality, the men were the invisible fourth-class citizens. Here is the breakdown by class and sex.<br /> “Titanic and the Invisible Fourth Class” Class: % of men dying and % of women dying. <br /> 1st class: M: 66% W: 3%<br /> 2nd class: M: 92% W: 16% <br /> 3rd class: M: 88% W: 45% <br /> Finally, the multiple scenes of men as cowards (“Men first! Leave the women and children behind") negates the reality, especially regarding First Officer William Murdoch, who was portrayed in the film as taking a bribe, shooting a third-class passenger, and then killing himself. In real life, “Murdoch behaved heroically, sacrificing his life after laboring frantically to save others." Twentieth Century Fox did apologize for their distortion, but all the scenes of his corruption and cowardice remain.<br /> In brief, the mandate: of masculinity, to be more disposable than a third-class citizen, was diluted by three methods, all fiction: (1) Showing a woman also willing to die to save a man; (2) Turning a heroic man (William Murdoch) into a coward and killer, and (3) Sensationalizing class disposability (via the lockout scene and the portrayal of Murdoch killing a third-class passenger while accepting a bribe from a rich man). When disposability is falsely made a characteristic of both sexes and class disposability is played up, it leaves us downplaying the true disposability of masculinity - only 8 percent of the second-class men saving themselves while saving 84 percent of their wives and 100 percent of their children."