"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.
Drove downtown in the rain
Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night
Just to check out the late-night record shop
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive
Call it insane
But when I'm surrounded I just can't stop
It's a matter of instinct
It's a matter of conditioning and a matter of fact
You can call me Pavlov's Dog
Ring a bell and I'll salivate
How'd you like that?
Dr. Landy tell me you're not just a pedagogue
'Cause right now I'm lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
So I'm lying here
Just staring at the ceiling tiles
And I'm thinking about, oh what to think about
Just listening and relistening
To Smiley Smile
And I'm wondering if this is some kind of creative drought
Because I'm lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did, whoa
And if you want to find me
I'll be out in the sandbox
Just wondering where the hell all the love has gone
I'm playing my guitar and building
Castles in the sun, oh oh oh
And singing "Fun, Fun, Fun"
Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did, whoa
I had a dream
That I was three hundred pounds
And though I was very heavy
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
Somebody, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me
Because I'm lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did, yeah
Drove downtown in the rain
Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night
Just to check out the late-night record shop
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive
You can call it insane, oh oh
But when I'm surrounded
I just can't stop
Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night
Just to check out the late-night record shop
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive
Call it insane
But when I'm surrounded I just can't stop
It's a matter of instinct
It's a matter of conditioning and a matter of fact
You can call me Pavlov's Dog
Ring a bell and I'll salivate
How'd you like that?
Dr. Landy tell me you're not just a pedagogue
'Cause right now I'm lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
So I'm lying here
Just staring at the ceiling tiles
And I'm thinking about, oh what to think about
Just listening and relistening
To Smiley Smile
And I'm wondering if this is some kind of creative drought
Because I'm lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did, whoa
And if you want to find me
I'll be out in the sandbox
Just wondering where the hell all the love has gone
I'm playing my guitar and building
Castles in the sun, oh oh oh
And singing "Fun, Fun, Fun"
Lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did, whoa
I had a dream
That I was three hundred pounds
And though I was very heavy
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground
Somebody, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody, I couldn't see the ground
Somebody help me
Because I'm lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did
Well I am lying in bed
Just like Brian Wilson did, yeah
Drove downtown in the rain
Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night
Just to check out the late-night record shop
Call it impulsive, call it compulsive
You can call it insane, oh oh
But when I'm surrounded
I just can't stop
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
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.
I love this song. wiseone is right. It's about depression, in extreme detail. I love the lines: I had a dream that I was three hundred pounds and though I was very heavy I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground I floated 'til I couldn't see the ground, somebody help me