"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 met this girl, she looked like Axl Rose
Got drunk and took her home and we slept in our clothes
In the morning put my feet on the floor and thought
Being awake never felt like this before
And Julianne ya know she wouldn't approve
Talked all day on the phone 'cause I had nothing to do
Got rid of Axl by the afternoon
Being awake never felt so clear and blue
That's all I knew
Guess that I was innocent too
I'll sing a song and it won't be the blues
Cause I don't miss Julianne
My friend she told me she felt sorry for me
She said the truth would come crashing down on me
That I'd be sorry but the truth of it is
That I feel guilty for not giving a shit
That's all I knew
Guess that I was innocent too
I'll sing a song and it won't be the blues
Cause I don't miss Julianne
I got my bag of trash
I got my bag of trash
I drag it up and down, I drag it up and down the road
How could she miss a man
Who drags a bag of trash down the road
This week I feel like I been born again
I knew that Julianne would have a fit
She'd find a reason for the things that I did
And gave me credit for the things that I've never been
That's all I knew
Guess that I was innocent too
I can try just as hard as I can
But I don't miss Julianne
That's all I knew
Guess that I was innocent too
I can try just as hard as I can
But I don't miss Julianne
Got drunk and took her home and we slept in our clothes
In the morning put my feet on the floor and thought
Being awake never felt like this before
And Julianne ya know she wouldn't approve
Talked all day on the phone 'cause I had nothing to do
Got rid of Axl by the afternoon
Being awake never felt so clear and blue
That's all I knew
Guess that I was innocent too
I'll sing a song and it won't be the blues
Cause I don't miss Julianne
My friend she told me she felt sorry for me
She said the truth would come crashing down on me
That I'd be sorry but the truth of it is
That I feel guilty for not giving a shit
That's all I knew
Guess that I was innocent too
I'll sing a song and it won't be the blues
Cause I don't miss Julianne
I got my bag of trash
I got my bag of trash
I drag it up and down, I drag it up and down the road
How could she miss a man
Who drags a bag of trash down the road
This week I feel like I been born again
I knew that Julianne would have a fit
She'd find a reason for the things that I did
And gave me credit for the things that I've never been
That's all I knew
Guess that I was innocent too
I can try just as hard as I can
But I don't miss Julianne
That's all I knew
Guess that I was innocent too
I can try just as hard as I can
But I don't miss Julianne
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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.
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.
this song is just an open explanation to what really goes on in some (most) relationships that most people want to pretend doesn't happen... it really makes the cheater look like an ass either way.
Glad I'm not Julianne.
Wow, never thought of this to be about cheating, but hey, Julianne was probably a bitch anyway :)
so any person that gets cheated on is a bitch? i think it has more to do with the restraint of the cheater that the character of the cheated
Sure the cheater's confused- he's with a bitch. I didn't think he cheated though, i mean, they slept in their clothes didnt they?! I had a girl like Julianne and girls that try to run your life and are disappointed in you when you quit your job, tend to take dumping quite harshly. That's what i felt guilty for- nice enough girl otherwise but when i came to my senses, i couldn give a shit :)
..even had a girlfriend that looked like axl rose.. but i still like her!...
I don't think we are supposed to assume Julianne is a bitch. The only thing he says about her is that he doesn't miss her and that she would be angry if she found out that he spent the night with another woman. I'd say that sounds pretty reasonable. And even if he didn't actually have sex with the Axl Rose woman, it's definitely pretty sketchy to get her drunk and spend the night together when you have a girlfriend. It could just be that he felt trapped in a relationship that didn't make him happy. Hanging out with the other woman made him realize that he wanted something more out of a relationship. I've had revelations like that, and it didn't mean that my boyfriend was a dick; it just meant that he and I weren't working out. I think that's the message here.
1)I had never thought that he cheated. The last verse might be able to put out a case for it, but I always thought Axl happened after the narrator was through with Julianne. "You know that julianne/She would have a fit" The tense of "would" makes me think that she either hasn't found out yet, or won't find out. Other stanzas lead me to believe that the dumpage has already gone down.
2)I believe that Julianne was a genuine bitch. He's using the image of "dragging a bag of trash" to Julianne. Sounds like he really thought she was a caring, sensitive, worth while lady, didn'he? Did you compare your non-dickish boyfriend to a bag of trash?
This song has a really confident, satisfied sound to it. If Julianne were a better person to the narrator, it would probably sound more like Where's Summer B.? instead of Uncle Walter, you know what I'm saying?
Peace.
i think this song is actually just about a nowhere relationship, a stupid one night stand when she happened up at his house when they got drunk. nothing even happend, but she got emotionally attatched and bitchy.
and he feels bad because it never meant anything to him, and is just trying to get rid of her because she is too much for him
The line of "We slept in our clothes", I think is "We slept in HER clothes". Which does make an awful lot more sense.