"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.
Sitting in the lazy chair, the channels
Look the same
I realize that the roof is stable and start
To feel ashamed
It's cold outside but don't ask me the
Weather's fine in here
Ask the man around the corner who
Lives his life in fear
Two hundred pennies, forty ounces later
He's okay
He doesn't have the pressure to think
About the next day
But I bet it's something cold and hard
And grey
Complaining and whining all the time, I
Never seem to quit
Always lying to myself, a shoe that
Seems to fit
Never is a long time and it feels like I'm
A clock
Ticking like a time bomb, someday soon
His life will stop
I listen to the radio but nothing
Good is on
My friends are calling up but I'm
Pretending that I'm gone
We're all pieces in a chess game,
He's a pawn
I wonder how it turned out like this, no
One seems to care
The scale has tipped me fortunate is this
What we call fair?
But I've never had the mind to no it,
Never had the guts to show it
I know one thing, his dream is my
Nightmare
Look the same
I realize that the roof is stable and start
To feel ashamed
It's cold outside but don't ask me the
Weather's fine in here
Ask the man around the corner who
Lives his life in fear
Two hundred pennies, forty ounces later
He's okay
He doesn't have the pressure to think
About the next day
But I bet it's something cold and hard
And grey
Complaining and whining all the time, I
Never seem to quit
Always lying to myself, a shoe that
Seems to fit
Never is a long time and it feels like I'm
A clock
Ticking like a time bomb, someday soon
His life will stop
I listen to the radio but nothing
Good is on
My friends are calling up but I'm
Pretending that I'm gone
We're all pieces in a chess game,
He's a pawn
I wonder how it turned out like this, no
One seems to care
The scale has tipped me fortunate is this
What we call fair?
But I've never had the mind to no it,
Never had the guts to show it
I know one thing, his dream is my
Nightmare
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
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
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.
well put 'punkinsd'!! I think that some people don't really know the harsh world out there that is many peoples reality.