"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.
If I listened long enough to you
I'd find a way to believe that it's all true
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe
Someone like you makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give
Never think about myself
If I gave you time to change my mind
I'd find a way just to leave the past behind
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe
If I listened long enough to you
I'd find a way to believe that it's all true
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe
Someone like you makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give
Never think about myself
Someone like you makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give
Never think about myself, woo
Someone like you makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give
Never think about myself
Someone like you makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
I'd find a way to believe that it's all true
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe
Someone like you makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give
Never think about myself
If I gave you time to change my mind
I'd find a way just to leave the past behind
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe
If I listened long enough to you
I'd find a way to believe that it's all true
Knowing that you lied, straight-faced while I cried
Still I look to find a reason to believe
Someone like you makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give
Never think about myself
Someone like you makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give
Never think about myself, woo
Someone like you makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
Someone like you makes it easy to give
Never think about myself
Someone like you makes it hard to live without
Somebody else
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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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
This is a memorable song with a curious history for the evolution of British pop music and my life. We all enjoyed Top of the Pops back then weird for me to see my current fave Radio 1 DJ John Peel bashfully performing or rather miming on the show when Rod and co came on doing Maggie May what had become the A-side of the single. This was naughty of them but since Peel was an avid supporter of The Faces how could he refuse. He had been responsible for my liking of that band too among many others of course. But it is the lyrics of this song and what had originally been the A-side "Reason to Believe" that were to become curiously prophetic on a personal level notably: "Knowing that you lied straight-faced while I cried" A relationship serenaded by this song as a track on one of her fave cassettes and especially: " Someone like you makes it hard to live without somebody else..." etc Well so much for that.... I still love this song and it triggers mostly happy memories but we all have to move on. Sadly Rod's latter day antics seldom match up to the formative years and songs like this echo down the year with that sweet achey sadness not least for the loss of its originator Tim Hardin.