"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.
You don't look but you kick me
You can't feel but you hit me
You can't deal with the way I pray
Why do we all have to look this way?
I gotta heart, I got blood, feel pain
Time, time is not on my side
'Cause the way I am
Gotta, gotta now, gotta find the reason why
A woman ain't a man
You don't look but you kick me
You can't feel but you hit me
You can't deal with the way I pray
Why do you all have to think this way?
I gotta heart, I got blood, feel pain
Fall in those single file lines
Like army ants
Yeah, fall into those single file lines
And complete the plan
You don't look but you kick me
You can't feel but you hit me
You can't deal with the way I pray
Why do we all have to think this way?
I gotta heart, I got blood, feel pain
You don't look but you kick me
You can't deal with the way I pray
You can't feel but you hit me
You can't deal with the way I pray
Why do we all have to look this way?
I gotta heart, I got blood, feel pain
Time, time is not on my side
'Cause the way I am
Gotta, gotta now, gotta find the reason why
A woman ain't a man
You don't look but you kick me
You can't feel but you hit me
You can't deal with the way I pray
Why do you all have to think this way?
I gotta heart, I got blood, feel pain
Fall in those single file lines
Like army ants
Yeah, fall into those single file lines
And complete the plan
You don't look but you kick me
You can't feel but you hit me
You can't deal with the way I pray
Why do we all have to think this way?
I gotta heart, I got blood, feel pain
You don't look but you kick me
You can't deal with the way I pray
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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.
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This song to me is as amazing today in 2018 as it was in 1994. Everyone in this divisive political world on both sides need to listen to this song and these amazing lyrics. So simple, yet so profound. "I got a heart, I got blood, feel pain." I'm human, just like you. I got a heart, I got blood, I feel pain, just like you and everyone else. It doesn't matter what color I am, what religion I believe in "you can't deal with the way I pray". "Why do we all have to think this way?" He is a person who lives his life on his terms. Why can't you (people in society) just accept that this is how I live my life? You all can go fall into those single file lines and keep marching in line like army ants and complete the plan... live the way "they" want you to live...in a box, marching in single file lines. He thinks outside the box, doesn't pay attention to all the garbage advertisements on tv and in the media. He is a free thinker. He doesn't want to behave according to the socially acceptable standards of the day. Just look up the definition of the word "CONFORM". I think this song is exactly about nonconformity. It's also about TOLERANCE and UNITY and HATRED, all prevailing themes in our society today. We are all human. We all have different beliefs and we need to stop all the hatred and just listen to each other more. And say, OK, that's your opinion and I RESPECT it, I just happen to have a different opinion.