"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.
Yo, microphone check one two what is this
The five foot assassin with the ruffneck business
I float like gravity, never had a cavity
Got more rhymes than the Winans got family
No need to sweat Arsenio to gain some type of fame
No shame in my game cause I'll always be the same
Styles upon styles upon styles is what I have
You want to diss the Phifer but you still don't know the half
I sport New Balance sneakers to avoid a narrow path
Messing 'round with this you catch the size 8 up-
I never half step cause I'm not a half stepper
Drink a lot of soda so they call me Dr. Pepper
Refuse to compete with BS competition
Your name ain't Special Ed so won't you sekkle with the mission
I never walk the streets, think it's all about me
Even though deep in my heart, it really could be
I just try my best to like go all out
Some might even say, "Yo shorty black you're buggin' out"
Zulu Nation, brothers that's creation
Minds get flooded, ejaculation
Right on the two inch tape
The Abstract poet incognito, runs the cape
Not the best not the worst and occasionally I curse to get my
Point across, so bust, the floss
As I go in between, the grit and the dirt
Listen to the mission listen miss as I do work
As I crack the, monotone
Children of the jazz so, get your own
Smoking R&B cause they try to do me
Or the best of the pack but they can't do rap
For it's Abstract, original
You can't get your own and that's, pitiful
I know I'd be the man if I cold yanked the plug
On R&B, but I can't and that's bugged
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Yo when you bug out, you usually have a reason for the action
Sometimes you don't it's just for mere satisfaction
People be hounding, always surrounding
Pulsing, just like a migraine pounding
You don't really fret, you stay in your sense
Camouflage your feeling, of absolute tense
You soar off to another world, deep in your mind
But people seem to take that, as being unkind
"Oh yo, he's acting stank", really on a regal?
A man of the fame not a man of the people"
Believe that if you want to but I tell you this much
Riding on the train with no dough, sucks
Once again a case of your feet in my Nike's
If a crowd is in my realm I'm saying, "Mic please"
Hip-hop is living, can't yank the plug
If you do the result, will end up kind of bugged
Yo, I am not an invalid although I used to smoke the weed out
Ali Shaheed Muhammad used to say I had to be out
Scheming on the cookies with the crazy booming back buns
Pushing on the real hardest so we can have the big fun
When I left for Rosie I was Boulevard status
Battling a MC was when Tip was at his maddest
It was one MC after one MC
What the world could they be wanting see from little old me?
Do I have the formula to save the world?
Or was it just because I used to swipe the women and all the girls?
I'm the type of brother with the crazy extended hand kid
Dissed by all my brothers I was all up what my man did
Supposed to be my man but now I wonder cause you're feeble
I go out with the strongest and I separate the evils
It's your brain against my mind, for those about to boot out
All you nasty critters even though you see I bug out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
The five foot assassin with the ruffneck business
I float like gravity, never had a cavity
Got more rhymes than the Winans got family
No need to sweat Arsenio to gain some type of fame
No shame in my game cause I'll always be the same
Styles upon styles upon styles is what I have
You want to diss the Phifer but you still don't know the half
I sport New Balance sneakers to avoid a narrow path
Messing 'round with this you catch the size 8 up-
I never half step cause I'm not a half stepper
Drink a lot of soda so they call me Dr. Pepper
Refuse to compete with BS competition
Your name ain't Special Ed so won't you sekkle with the mission
I never walk the streets, think it's all about me
Even though deep in my heart, it really could be
I just try my best to like go all out
Some might even say, "Yo shorty black you're buggin' out"
Zulu Nation, brothers that's creation
Minds get flooded, ejaculation
Right on the two inch tape
The Abstract poet incognito, runs the cape
Not the best not the worst and occasionally I curse to get my
Point across, so bust, the floss
As I go in between, the grit and the dirt
Listen to the mission listen miss as I do work
As I crack the, monotone
Children of the jazz so, get your own
Smoking R&B cause they try to do me
Or the best of the pack but they can't do rap
For it's Abstract, original
You can't get your own and that's, pitiful
I know I'd be the man if I cold yanked the plug
On R&B, but I can't and that's bugged
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Yo when you bug out, you usually have a reason for the action
Sometimes you don't it's just for mere satisfaction
People be hounding, always surrounding
Pulsing, just like a migraine pounding
You don't really fret, you stay in your sense
Camouflage your feeling, of absolute tense
You soar off to another world, deep in your mind
But people seem to take that, as being unkind
"Oh yo, he's acting stank", really on a regal?
A man of the fame not a man of the people"
Believe that if you want to but I tell you this much
Riding on the train with no dough, sucks
Once again a case of your feet in my Nike's
If a crowd is in my realm I'm saying, "Mic please"
Hip-hop is living, can't yank the plug
If you do the result, will end up kind of bugged
Yo, I am not an invalid although I used to smoke the weed out
Ali Shaheed Muhammad used to say I had to be out
Scheming on the cookies with the crazy booming back buns
Pushing on the real hardest so we can have the big fun
When I left for Rosie I was Boulevard status
Battling a MC was when Tip was at his maddest
It was one MC after one MC
What the world could they be wanting see from little old me?
Do I have the formula to save the world?
Or was it just because I used to swipe the women and all the girls?
I'm the type of brother with the crazy extended hand kid
Dissed by all my brothers I was all up what my man did
Supposed to be my man but now I wonder cause you're feeble
I go out with the strongest and I separate the evils
It's your brain against my mind, for those about to boot out
All you nasty critters even though you see I bug out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
Buggin' out, buggin' out
Buggin' out you're buggin' out
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
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.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
Only one comment?
This song's fucking awesome. And the video at the end of Jazz (We got) is awesome too.