"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.
Well your CD collection looks shiny and costly.
How much did you pay for your bad Moto Guzzi?
And how much did you spend on your black leather jacket?
Is it you or your parents in this income tax bracket?
Now tickets to concerts and drinking at clubs
Sometimes for music that you haven't even heard of.
And how much did you pay for your rock'n'roll t shirt
That proves you were there
That you heard of them first?
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
Ah, tell me.
How much did you pay for the chunk of his guitar,
The one he ruthlessly smashed at the end of the show?
And how much will he pay for a brand new guitar,
One which he'll ruthlessly smash at the end of another show?
And how long will the workers keep building him new ones?
As long as their soda cans are red, white, and blue ones.
And how long will the workers keep building him new ones?
As long as their soda cans are red, white, and blue ones.
Aging black leather and hospital bills,
Tattoo removal and dozens of pills.
Your liver pays dearly now for youthful magic moments,
But rock on completely with some brand new components.
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
Excess ain't rebellion.
You're drinking what they're selling.
Your self-destruction doesn't hurt them.
Your chaos won't convert them.
They're so happy to rebuild it.
You'll never really kill it.
Yeah, excess ain't rebellion.
You're drinking what they're selling.
Excess ain't rebellion.
You're drinking,
You're drinking,
You're drinking what they're selling.
How much did you pay for your bad Moto Guzzi?
And how much did you spend on your black leather jacket?
Is it you or your parents in this income tax bracket?
Now tickets to concerts and drinking at clubs
Sometimes for music that you haven't even heard of.
And how much did you pay for your rock'n'roll t shirt
That proves you were there
That you heard of them first?
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
Ah, tell me.
How much did you pay for the chunk of his guitar,
The one he ruthlessly smashed at the end of the show?
And how much will he pay for a brand new guitar,
One which he'll ruthlessly smash at the end of another show?
And how long will the workers keep building him new ones?
As long as their soda cans are red, white, and blue ones.
And how long will the workers keep building him new ones?
As long as their soda cans are red, white, and blue ones.
Aging black leather and hospital bills,
Tattoo removal and dozens of pills.
Your liver pays dearly now for youthful magic moments,
But rock on completely with some brand new components.
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?
Excess ain't rebellion.
You're drinking what they're selling.
Your self-destruction doesn't hurt them.
Your chaos won't convert them.
They're so happy to rebuild it.
You'll never really kill it.
Yeah, excess ain't rebellion.
You're drinking what they're selling.
Excess ain't rebellion.
You're drinking,
You're drinking,
You're drinking what they're selling.
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
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/
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
it's about america, and how capitalist society allows for wasting things that are wasteful to begin with.
It is about people who don't have a clue on how to enjoy music responsibly. He is obviously criticizing the people who change their entire lifestyle in order to conform to the image of a "true fan." Yet the musicians themselves could care less about how much these people think they like a band more than everyone else. The apparent ideal image to achieve is independance ("Is it you or your parents in this income tax bracket?") yet if you try too hard to acheive an image, you yourself are not an independant, rather you are being controlled by the false idol you now worship. ("You're drinking what they're selling")
We can all agree that, at least on the most superficial level, this song is a a criticism of 'posers' living a particularly wasteful rock'n'roll lifestyle. But, I think it is a double entendre with some comment on how the American capitalistic society at large tends to be wasteful and living in excess. Don't get so defensive Billvmc -- they're just saying what they think it's about, not that they're communists.
Also, "Rock on completely with some brand new components" is truly a genius line. I think he's talking about the new accesssories that are earned by a lifetime of hard living -- liver problems, medical bills, faded tatoos, etc.
I really don't see how you can take this song to be anything but a critique of capitalism. It's all about how 'rock n roll' went from being anti-authoritarian and dangerous to becoming just another fashion for people to buy into and for the big corporations to make money off of. The idea is that people believe the propaganda and think that they're 'rebelling against society being outlaws' when in actuality they are just shelling out cash to the same thugs who own Disney, time-warner etc. Killing yourself with drugs is what they want, because it kills you and makes them money. (if you don't think that this song is about true rebellion then who is the 'they' in 'you're drinking what they're selling'?)
As for the Pepsi can theory I think that the "as long as there soda cans are red white and blue ones" refers to the workers stupidly continuing to manufacture guitars brainwashed into subservience by nationalism.
And the Einstein who thinks that computers are a purely capitalist invention might wonder how the USSR launched sputnik, MIRR etc. into space without computers.
“Excess ain’t rebellion…” starts probably the best verse I have ever heard in a song. People often get confused when they walk down the street in a Marlin Manson t-shirt w/ blue hare. They think because people turn there heads and give them snotty looks that they are different from those people, and in a very superficial meaningless way they are. For some reason they do not realize that black sheep are still sheep. The problem with rebelling from the other sheep is that they are not the ones who shape the herd, that is the work of the shepherd and his dogs. In our society the shepherd is commercialism, desire for acquisition, and the American Dream. Big business are the dogs. So “Excess ain’t rebellion” is basically saying that you are not getting away from the herd by following the shepherd. “You’re drinking what there selling ” is reemphasizing the fact that you are doing what they want you to do. You are still just another good consumer to them.
This is about how music and consumerism play off each other. (Some) music preys on kids who think they're so "punk" or "rebellious" by partying at concerts and wearing shirts for bands that make them look "alternative" when they're really just feeding the system, ironically helping to make alternative more mainstream than they realize....
Brilliantly sarcastic and smart lyrics from Cake, as usual
it's about posers... people who are trying to pay to be what they're not
Blasto is right. I'm just gonna go into it a little more.
the guy (the singer) is confronting this kid ("you or your parents...") who is wearing a bands t-shirt but doesn't know anything about them.
i agreee with i eat cotten but waht does he mean by "As long as their soda cans are red, white, and blue". What is he getting at?
Referring to Pepsi (Pepsi is red, white and blue).
And how long will the workers keep building him new ones? As long as their soda cans are red, white, and blue ones. --This means that they'll keep getting things as long as they have their sponsors (Pepsi--red, white, and blue soda cans).