"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.
Just as I thought it was goin' alright
I found out I'm wrong, when I thought I was right
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
I could say day and you'd say night
Tell it's black when I know that it's white
Always the same, it's just a shame and that's all
I could leave but I won't go
Though my heart might tell me so
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
But why does it always seem to be
Me lookin' at you with you lookin' at me
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
Turnin' me on, turnin' me off
Makin' me feel like I want too much
Livin' with you's just a-puttin' me through it all of the time
Runnin' around, stayin' out all night
Takin' it all 'stead of takin' one bite
Livin' with you's just a-puttin' me through it all of the time
Well, I could leave but I won't go
Well, it'd be easier I know
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
But why does it always seem to be
Me lookin' at you, you lookin' at me
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
Truth is I love you, more than I wanted to
There's no point in tryin' to pretend
There's been no one who makes me feel like you do
Say we'll be together 'til the end
Yeah
Where I could leave but I won't go
It'd be easier I know
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
So why does it always seem to be
Me lookin' at you, you lookin' at me
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
But I love you, more than I wanted to
There's no point in trying to pretend
There's been no one who makes me feel like you do
Say we'll be together 'til the end
But just as I thought it was goin' alright
I found out I'm wrong when I thought I was right
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
Well, I could say day and you say night
Tell me it's black when I know that it's white
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
That's all
I found out I'm wrong, when I thought I was right
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
I could say day and you'd say night
Tell it's black when I know that it's white
Always the same, it's just a shame and that's all
I could leave but I won't go
Though my heart might tell me so
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
But why does it always seem to be
Me lookin' at you with you lookin' at me
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
Turnin' me on, turnin' me off
Makin' me feel like I want too much
Livin' with you's just a-puttin' me through it all of the time
Runnin' around, stayin' out all night
Takin' it all 'stead of takin' one bite
Livin' with you's just a-puttin' me through it all of the time
Well, I could leave but I won't go
Well, it'd be easier I know
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
But why does it always seem to be
Me lookin' at you, you lookin' at me
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
Truth is I love you, more than I wanted to
There's no point in tryin' to pretend
There's been no one who makes me feel like you do
Say we'll be together 'til the end
Yeah
Where I could leave but I won't go
It'd be easier I know
I can't feel a thing from my head down to my toes
So why does it always seem to be
Me lookin' at you, you lookin' at me
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
But I love you, more than I wanted to
There's no point in trying to pretend
There's been no one who makes me feel like you do
Say we'll be together 'til the end
But just as I thought it was goin' alright
I found out I'm wrong when I thought I was right
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
Well, I could say day and you say night
Tell me it's black when I know that it's white
It's always the same, it's just a shame, that's all
That's all
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
That's All Lyrics as written by Phil Collins Tony Banks
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Hayalperest
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
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Punchline
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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.
Page
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Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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“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.
Lis517 I totally agree with you. This song, to me, is definitely about a bittersweet relationship. They fight. They seem to pick at each other. But, they love each other very much. "But I love you more than I wanted to there's no point in trying to pretend there's been no-one who makes me feel like you do say we'll be together til the end"
So even though they are torn up by disagreement at points that may be frequent, they also are wild about each other. I mean that paragraph is pretty strong.
This relationship that they share must be a very PASSIONATE one.