"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.
Your sweet little hands
Brush right past me
Sometimes you don't understand
Why you can't reach
I bite when I don't want to bend
How silent I can be
So she is silent too
She's the one who saw my words
Broken, Torn at the seams
And broken words were all she heard
Now she's walking away from me
Some never meant
And some meant well
The difference between us is so
Hard to tell
I was so shaken but now
All I see
Is everything she meant to me
Brush right past me
Sometimes you don't understand
Why you can't reach
I bite when I don't want to bend
How silent I can be
So she is silent too
She's the one who saw my words
Broken, Torn at the seams
And broken words were all she heard
Now she's walking away from me
Some never meant
And some meant well
The difference between us is so
Hard to tell
I was so shaken but now
All I see
Is everything she meant to me
Lyrics submitted by lemonie_fresh
Broken Words Lyrics as written by James Ryan Black Arnold David Lanni
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
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.
To many memories of past experiences...
I can't even explain it... It's so...amazing.
I think it's about his inability to communicate his feelings with someone he loves. And they took that to mean that he didn't care.
i think its about him loving a gurl but not really knowing how to show it and things he said he didnt mean to be mean but she took them wrong and so shes leaves him.... but this song is beautiful and i love it
Anyone hear the acoustic version of this on WAAF? It is awesome. I love this song, along with Stay and Drown.
I love the acoustic version. It puts friggen chills down my spine. Definately a great song.
this song is definately one of the most touching songs ive ever heard....the songs is about a person who was misunderstood....and is now possibly regretting what hes done, cuz hes lost a girl whos important in his life...shes didnt seem to hear all his feelings...shes shes given up
I think this song talks about a guy who has been through a lot. So much that he's put up a defense shield and now, when he finally found someone to care about, he's unable to bring down the wall he's built. She can't love him because he doesn't love himself.
It's about a guy coming out of a relationship with someone he really cared for but, he didn't know quite how to express himself. She took his lack of expression to mean that he didn't care at all and left him. Story of my life. Amazing song by one of my all-time favorite bands.
the acoustic version is definitly kick ass.... is it just me or in the beginning of the song do you hear little whispers? turn it up really loud and i swear you can hear them- but i have no clue what they say!