"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 resent you calling
I resent your voice
I resent that I
Don't have a choice
Anywhere I go
You are always there
Outside the car
Or in my hair
I think I've been here before
Yes I've been here before
The last time you locked
All the doors
And I resent you calling
I resent your voice
I resent that I
Don't have a choice
And yes I am
Yes I am
I think I've told you once
I think I needed advice
You were such a help
That's very nice
I think I've been here before
Yes I've been here before
But this time I kick
Down your door
Yes I am
Yes I am
I resent your voice
I resent that I
Don't have a choice
Anywhere I go
You are always there
Outside the car
Or in my hair
I think I've been here before
Yes I've been here before
The last time you locked
All the doors
And I resent you calling
I resent your voice
I resent that I
Don't have a choice
And yes I am
Yes I am
I think I've told you once
I think I needed advice
You were such a help
That's very nice
I think I've been here before
Yes I've been here before
But this time I kick
Down your door
Yes I am
Yes I am
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
To me, this sounds like someone who has been in love with someone all the time, and they are trying to abandon these feelings, but no matter where they go, they are constantly reminded of that person. This is shown in these lyrics:(I resent that I Don't have a choice Anywhere I go You are always there) The person singing is frustrated that they cannot control their feelings and no matter how hard they try they are still in love with this person.
(Yes I've been here before The last time you locked All the doors) I think this is referring to the rejection the person faced from the person they love. This would be what made the person singing try to abandon the feelings that they have.
(But this time I kick Down your door) The person has come to terms that they will never be able to rid themselves of the emotions they feel, and they are going to do everything they can to peruse the one they love.
To me, this was the symbol of my ex coming around a lot and receiving advice from them, and having to be cautious about it, because why I am I to think that they have what's best for me in mind if we're no longer together in the first place? However, I think Thom might be talking about a current relationship and not an old one...
i think it's pretty much about and ex who wants to get back together with you but you don't want them anymore.
I think it's about the press and how he has to deal with it.
Im not a great fan of this song.
this song is so obviously about people who always put you down and how thom secretly wants to get revenge and show them up and how when he became famous people pretended that they liked him all along, it's about seeing through hollow people and realising that they never really liked you in the first place.
Yeah. This song really isn't my favorite song by Radiohead. I think everyone else pretty much summed up the meaning of this song. Ehhhhh... :|
uh anyone who doesnt like this song needs to hear the acoustic version
i actually think this is a great song; it's very different for radiohead.
I agree this song can be applied to the "EX" principle. I also think that it portray the relationship between a producer? or record company that keeps asking for new material.
The record company, or advertiser or something would always be pressuring the narrator to be doing things that were maybe out of the ordinary.
"I am Wary" - wary of getting into shady deals? signing a deal with a company? getting back together with an Ex ? Wary of the Press/media ? maybe other things that you should be wary of...
The solo and climatic buildup at the end of the song is a stranger way for Radiohead to end a song, we don't hear a "solo" ending the song until I think Karma Police's distinct Noise Outro.
It kind of goes out of the box, for style and structure than most Radiohead songs, and I feel it could've been a musical experiment, as well as an introduction to the record company and fame they were receiving?
"Pre - My Iron Lung" thoughts?
Thanks for Reading. -KB