"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.
Oh mirror mirror, you're coming in clear
I'm finally somewhere in between
I'm impressed, what a beautiful chest
I never meant to make a big scene
Will you resign to the latest design?
You look so messy when you dress up in dreams
One more for hire, a wonderful liar
I think it's time we all should come clean
Stack dead actors
Stacked to the rafters
Line up the bastards
All I want is the truth
Hey, hey now, can you fake it?
Can you make it look like we won?
Hey, hey now, can you take it?
And we cry when they all die blonde
God bless, what a sensitive mess
Yeah, but things aren't always what they seem
Your teary eyes, your famous disguise
Never knowing who to believe
See through, yeah, but what do you do?
When you're just another aging drag queen
Stack dead actors
Stacked to the rafters
Line up the bastards
All I want is the truth
Hey, hey now, can you fake it?
Can you make it look like we won?
Hey, hey now, can you take it?
And we cry when they all die blonde
Stack dead actors, stacked to the rafters
Line up all the bastards, all I want is the truth
Stack dead actors, stacked to the rafters
Line up all the bastards, and we cry when they all die blonde, ahh
Hey, hey now, can you fake it?
Can you make it look like we won?
Hey, hey now, can you take it?
And we cry when they all die blonde
Stack dead actors, stacked to the rafters
Line up all the bastards, all I want is the truth
Stack dead actors, stacked to the rafters
Line up the bastards, cry when they all die blonde
I'm finally somewhere in between
I'm impressed, what a beautiful chest
I never meant to make a big scene
Will you resign to the latest design?
You look so messy when you dress up in dreams
One more for hire, a wonderful liar
I think it's time we all should come clean
Stack dead actors
Stacked to the rafters
Line up the bastards
All I want is the truth
Hey, hey now, can you fake it?
Can you make it look like we won?
Hey, hey now, can you take it?
And we cry when they all die blonde
God bless, what a sensitive mess
Yeah, but things aren't always what they seem
Your teary eyes, your famous disguise
Never knowing who to believe
See through, yeah, but what do you do?
When you're just another aging drag queen
Stack dead actors
Stacked to the rafters
Line up the bastards
All I want is the truth
Hey, hey now, can you fake it?
Can you make it look like we won?
Hey, hey now, can you take it?
And we cry when they all die blonde
Stack dead actors, stacked to the rafters
Line up all the bastards, all I want is the truth
Stack dead actors, stacked to the rafters
Line up all the bastards, and we cry when they all die blonde, ahh
Hey, hey now, can you fake it?
Can you make it look like we won?
Hey, hey now, can you take it?
And we cry when they all die blonde
Stack dead actors, stacked to the rafters
Line up all the bastards, all I want is the truth
Stack dead actors, stacked to the rafters
Line up the bastards, cry when they all die blonde
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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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
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.
YAY awesome song... best yell along song EVER.