"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.
Yeah
Every stone that's turned
Every lesson learnt
Every moment fixed up always
Can you find what's lost?
Realize the cost?
Undermining the boss just don't pay
Every image flash
For the excess cash
Every road that's leading nowhere
It's the line you follow
Cream you swallow
Hate gets hollow always
And you still won't stop
Running till you drop
Thinking you might reach
The sky
(The sky)
So the only question left
To ask is why
Why (x2)
I wish I had a gun
So I could get wasted
Sometimes you win
And sometimes you lose
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
And if I had a gun
I'd want to get wasted
One day it's hard
The next time it's cool
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
Every mourning wake
Every demon shake
Gonna come full circle someday
Every buried past
Every time the last
But it just don't wash up no way
All the shameful waste
For the stone you crave
Every guess you hazard, gone
And the only road you know
Is further on
On (x2)
Yeah
I wish I had a gun
So I could get wasted
Sometimes you win
And sAometimes you lose
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
And if I had a gun
I'd want to get wasted
One day it's hard
The next time it's cool
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
Every powder trip
Every girl you slip
Underneath, it's over one day
For the great white lie
You hide
Then you die
I wish I had a gun
So I could get wasted
(So I could get wasted)
Sometimes you win
And sometimes you lose
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
(Oh, yeah)
And if I had a gun
(Stone free)
I'd want to get wasted
(As free as the wind blows)
One day it's hard
(As free as the rocks glow)
The next time it's cool
(Stone free) (x2)
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
(x8) Yes, this is free
(I wish I had a gun)
Stone free (x8)
Every stone that's turned
Every lesson learnt
Every moment fixed up always
Can you find what's lost?
Realize the cost?
Undermining the boss just don't pay
Every image flash
For the excess cash
Every road that's leading nowhere
It's the line you follow
Cream you swallow
Hate gets hollow always
And you still won't stop
Running till you drop
Thinking you might reach
The sky
(The sky)
So the only question left
To ask is why
Why (x2)
I wish I had a gun
So I could get wasted
Sometimes you win
And sometimes you lose
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
And if I had a gun
I'd want to get wasted
One day it's hard
The next time it's cool
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
Every mourning wake
Every demon shake
Gonna come full circle someday
Every buried past
Every time the last
But it just don't wash up no way
All the shameful waste
For the stone you crave
Every guess you hazard, gone
And the only road you know
Is further on
On (x2)
Yeah
I wish I had a gun
So I could get wasted
Sometimes you win
And sAometimes you lose
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
And if I had a gun
I'd want to get wasted
One day it's hard
The next time it's cool
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
Every powder trip
Every girl you slip
Underneath, it's over one day
For the great white lie
You hide
Then you die
I wish I had a gun
So I could get wasted
(So I could get wasted)
Sometimes you win
And sometimes you lose
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
(Oh, yeah)
And if I had a gun
(Stone free)
I'd want to get wasted
(As free as the wind blows)
One day it's hard
(As free as the rocks glow)
The next time it's cool
(Stone free) (x2)
Sometimes there's nowhere left you can run to
(x8) Yes, this is free
(I wish I had a gun)
Stone free (x8)
Lyrics submitted by dravencrow
I Wish I Had Lyrics as written by John Barry Jason Kelly
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Page
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Plastic Bag
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“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.
i think it's "I wish I had gone" rather than "I wish I had a gun."
If it's "gone", then it seems like the lyrics involve someone wanting to get intoxicated. If it's "a gun", however, then it seems like that person wants to kill himself or something.