"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.
I have a dream of a scene between the green hills
Clouds pull away and the sunlight's revealed
People don't talk about keeping it real
It's understood that they actually will
And intoxicated and stimulated MCs
Staring in the trees, paranoid, are gone in the breeze
Watch them flee, hip-hop heads
Take a walk with me and what you'll see
Is a land where the sand's made of crushed up wax
And the sky beyond you is Krylon blue
And everybody speaks in a dialect of rhyme
And MCs have left materialism behind them
Meanwhile, I just grip my mic
And hope me and my team make it through alright
Because say what you will, and say what you might
But don't ignore who it's for at the end of the night
Because this is dedicated to the kids
Dedicated to wherever music lives
Dedicated to those tired of the same old same
And dedicated to the people advancin' the game
What's real, is the kids who know that something's wrong
What's real, is the kids who think they don't belong
What's real, is the kids who have nowhere to run
Who are hiding in the shadows, waiting for the sun
I've seen a lot of sh-, I've talked to a bum
Out on Sunset Strip, he asked me, "How would you feel
If everybody acted like you didn't exist?
You'd lose your grip, probably eventually flip"
So let it be known, the only reason that we do this
So you can pick it up and just bang your head to it
While MCs fight to see who can be the commonest
We float overhead like a space odyssey monolith
Over seeing the game, over being part of the same old thing
It's all gonna change in a hurricane of darkness and pain
And acidic rain and promises you won't do it again
Meanwhile, I just grip my mic
And hope me and my team make it through alright
Because say what you will, and say what you might
But don't ignore who it's for at the end of the night
Because this is dedicated to the kids
Dedicated to wherever music lives
Dedicated to those tired of the same old same
And dedicated to the people advancin' the game
What's real, is the kids who know that something's wrong
What's real, is the kids who think they don't belong
What's real, is the kids who have nowhere to run
Who are hiding in the shadows waiting for the sun
Pulling me close, the shadow is warm inside
This is where I feel at home, this is my place to hide
Pulling me close, the shadow is warm inside
This is where I feel at home, this is my place to hide
Because this is dedicated to the kids
Dedicated to wherever music lives
Dedicated to those tired of the same old same
And dedicated to the people advancin' the game
What's real, is the kids who know that something's wrong
What's real, is the kids who think they don't belong
What's real, is the kids who have nowhere to run
Who are hiding in the shadows waiting for the sun
This is dedicated to the kids
Dedicated to wherever music lives
Dedicated to those tired of the same old same
And dedicated to the people advancin' the game
What's real, everybody who doesn't feel safe
What's real, everybody who knows they're out of place
What's real, anybody with nowhere to run
Who hides in the shadows waiting for the sun
Clouds pull away and the sunlight's revealed
People don't talk about keeping it real
It's understood that they actually will
And intoxicated and stimulated MCs
Staring in the trees, paranoid, are gone in the breeze
Watch them flee, hip-hop heads
Take a walk with me and what you'll see
Is a land where the sand's made of crushed up wax
And the sky beyond you is Krylon blue
And everybody speaks in a dialect of rhyme
And MCs have left materialism behind them
Meanwhile, I just grip my mic
And hope me and my team make it through alright
Because say what you will, and say what you might
But don't ignore who it's for at the end of the night
Because this is dedicated to the kids
Dedicated to wherever music lives
Dedicated to those tired of the same old same
And dedicated to the people advancin' the game
What's real, is the kids who know that something's wrong
What's real, is the kids who think they don't belong
What's real, is the kids who have nowhere to run
Who are hiding in the shadows, waiting for the sun
I've seen a lot of sh-, I've talked to a bum
Out on Sunset Strip, he asked me, "How would you feel
If everybody acted like you didn't exist?
You'd lose your grip, probably eventually flip"
So let it be known, the only reason that we do this
So you can pick it up and just bang your head to it
While MCs fight to see who can be the commonest
We float overhead like a space odyssey monolith
Over seeing the game, over being part of the same old thing
It's all gonna change in a hurricane of darkness and pain
And acidic rain and promises you won't do it again
Meanwhile, I just grip my mic
And hope me and my team make it through alright
Because say what you will, and say what you might
But don't ignore who it's for at the end of the night
Because this is dedicated to the kids
Dedicated to wherever music lives
Dedicated to those tired of the same old same
And dedicated to the people advancin' the game
What's real, is the kids who know that something's wrong
What's real, is the kids who think they don't belong
What's real, is the kids who have nowhere to run
Who are hiding in the shadows waiting for the sun
Pulling me close, the shadow is warm inside
This is where I feel at home, this is my place to hide
Pulling me close, the shadow is warm inside
This is where I feel at home, this is my place to hide
Because this is dedicated to the kids
Dedicated to wherever music lives
Dedicated to those tired of the same old same
And dedicated to the people advancin' the game
What's real, is the kids who know that something's wrong
What's real, is the kids who think they don't belong
What's real, is the kids who have nowhere to run
Who are hiding in the shadows waiting for the sun
This is dedicated to the kids
Dedicated to wherever music lives
Dedicated to those tired of the same old same
And dedicated to the people advancin' the game
What's real, everybody who doesn't feel safe
What's real, everybody who knows they're out of place
What's real, anybody with nowhere to run
Who hides in the shadows waiting for the sun
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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.
wow...I just heard about this song (through here) last night and I downloaded it....it's really good I love the lyrics; the whole chorus, and that part talking to the guy on the strip..... I can totally relate.....