"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 can't eat, I can't sleep
I can't live, I can't cry
I can't die, I can't walk
I can't talk, I can't booze
I can't booze, steal your shoes so I can move
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
I'm looking for a new meditation
Still looking for a new way to fly
Don't want any plastic validation
Not looking for a new way to die
I made excuses for a million lies
But all I got was humble kidney pie
So what?
So what?
I can't eat, I can't sleep
I can't live, I can't cry
I can't die, I can't walk
I can't talk, can't booze
I can't booze, steal your shoes so I can move
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
I'm looking for a new stimulation
Quite bored of those inflatable ties
I'm looking for a new rock sensation
Dead fish don't swim around in jealous tides
I made excuses for a million lies
But all I got was humble kidney pie
So what?
So what?
So what?
So what?
Can't hold you when I miss you (tumble in the rough)
Left on a summer intermission (tumble in the rough)
Can't hold you when I miss you (tumble in the rough)
Left on a summer intermission (tumble in the rough)
I can't eat, I can't sleep
I can't live, I can't cry
I can't die, I can't walk
I can't talk, can't booze
I can't booze, steal your shoes so I can move
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
I made excuses for a million lies
But all I got was humble kidney pie
I made excuses for a million lies
But all I got was humble kidney pie
So what?
So what?
So what?
So what?
I can't live, I can't cry
I can't die, I can't walk
I can't talk, I can't booze
I can't booze, steal your shoes so I can move
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
I'm looking for a new meditation
Still looking for a new way to fly
Don't want any plastic validation
Not looking for a new way to die
I made excuses for a million lies
But all I got was humble kidney pie
So what?
So what?
I can't eat, I can't sleep
I can't live, I can't cry
I can't die, I can't walk
I can't talk, can't booze
I can't booze, steal your shoes so I can move
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
I'm looking for a new stimulation
Quite bored of those inflatable ties
I'm looking for a new rock sensation
Dead fish don't swim around in jealous tides
I made excuses for a million lies
But all I got was humble kidney pie
So what?
So what?
So what?
So what?
Can't hold you when I miss you (tumble in the rough)
Left on a summer intermission (tumble in the rough)
Can't hold you when I miss you (tumble in the rough)
Left on a summer intermission (tumble in the rough)
I can't eat, I can't sleep
I can't live, I can't cry
I can't die, I can't walk
I can't talk, can't booze
I can't booze, steal your shoes so I can move
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
Tumble in the rough
I made excuses for a million lies
But all I got was humble kidney pie
I made excuses for a million lies
But all I got was humble kidney pie
So what?
So what?
So what?
So what?
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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.
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.
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.
In this one, he's sayin he trying to find a new outlet besides drugs because they're fuckin him up.And hes sayin his life sucks going thru withdrawl so he feels he cant do anything like eat ,sleep,ect.He's payin the price for all the lies and excuses he made.
it just about not caring anymore. he knows his life sucks but he doesnt care because hes happy with it
call me crazy but this is my all time favorite STP song
i call you crazy bc of your name
goddamnit..its been 5 years and nobody has commented on this..?
yea... 5 years :| it's like a really amazing song too, probably cause it's hidden in Tiny Music~ it's not the most popular STP album
sounds like scott was having a late night withdraw
vintage stp right here.... great song this song even charted without being released as a single... i think the only other stp song to do so is dead and bloated
dead fish dont swim around in jealous tides love that line!
i always wondered the meaning of this song and i think the people here have got it right.... its scott talking about his addictions melodically with the music
i cant believe theres not more comments on this song its great.... i suppose theirs not too much to say about its meaning but still there should still be a shit load of stupid comments saying how great it is =)
this song is great! :D