"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.
Doing everything that I believe in,
Going by the rules that I've been taught,
More understanding the world surround me,
And protected from the walls of love,
All that you see is me,
And all I truly believe,
That I was born to try,
I've learned to love,
Be understanding and believe in life,
But you gotta make choices,
Beyond the rights,
Sometimes you gotta sacrifice
The things you like
But I was born to try.
All that you see is me,
And all I truly believe,
All that you see is me,
And all I truly believe,
That I was born to try,
I've learned to love,
Be understanding,
And believe in life,
But you gotta make choices,
Beyond the right,
Sometimes you gotta sacrifice
The things you like
But I was born to try,
But you gotta make choices,
Beyond your right,
Sometimes you gotta sacrifice
The things you like,
I was born to try.
Going by the rules that I've been taught,
More understanding the world surround me,
And protected from the walls of love,
All that you see is me,
And all I truly believe,
That I was born to try,
I've learned to love,
Be understanding and believe in life,
But you gotta make choices,
Beyond the rights,
Sometimes you gotta sacrifice
The things you like
But I was born to try.
All that you see is me,
And all I truly believe,
All that you see is me,
And all I truly believe,
That I was born to try,
I've learned to love,
Be understanding,
And believe in life,
But you gotta make choices,
Beyond the right,
Sometimes you gotta sacrifice
The things you like
But I was born to try,
But you gotta make choices,
Beyond your right,
Sometimes you gotta sacrifice
The things you like,
I was born to try.
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
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.
this is a song about going for what matters in life even if you fail... love it :)
Not bad for a humble Aussie soapie star eh? She has the sweetest voice in the world. I reckon she must eat millions of lollies :)
I`m surprised there are so few comments on this one.
This song always makes me happy when I hear it and it makes me feel like good :-)
The message of this song is very obvious, so I think I'll stick to the mechanics of it in my commentary. A BEAUTIFUL song, beautiful piano bit, especially gorgeous live and with piano and guitar. Delta is amazing, and she should definitely write more with Audius, with how well this one came out. It's fitting that it was her first no.1 single. She says that this was the one really defining song for her, that made her feel like Delta Goodrem. And it was worked really well into Neighbours, too. In all, this is just a beautiful song, perfectly showcasing Delta's abilities--at singing, at acting in Neighbours, at playing the piano. I would not be disappointed if a few more Born To Try-like songs came out in the future (like Be Strong and Together We Are One...)
I love this song. It's very cool. It's just about finding what you love in life and doing it, no matter what!
i miss the old delta! this song is wonderful =)
In my opinion the lyrics to this song are incredibly clichéd, as are the chord progressions which bring to mind "Kockin' on Heaven's Door" - I actually cringe listening to it. Pointless schmaltz
*Knockin'
what an apt typo lol
I see your point Joe_Dull; lines such as "sometimes you've got to sacrifice the things you like" seem like cliche fillers that fit perfectly to the melody but lyrically seem out of place (the album's filled with them). But aside from that, and aside from the unashamed pop-ness of the track, I LOVE this song. My favourite track off one of my favourite albums.
I think it really describes where Delta was at... and where other people are at at a given point in their lives. "Doing everything that I believe in"... "More understanding of what's around me"... "Life's full of mistakes, destinies and fates". It's such a 'growing up' anthem.
I'd love to hear a piano acoustic of this song, and I'm sure one exists somewhere, but I think it'd be really powerful.
This song is one I heard on the radio after I got some medical news that (would have)changed my life forever. I couldn't stop crying afterwards. That's how I learned of Delta Goodrem and since I just love her....... Great voice, great singer, great song. Love it.