"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.
Ladies and gentlemen
It's my pleasure to introduce to you
He's a friend of mine
Yes, yes I am
And he goes by the name
Justin
All the way
From Memphis, Tennessee
And he's got somethin' special for y'all tonight
He's gonna sing a song for y'all
About this girl
Come in right here?
Yeah, come on
On that sunny day
Didn't know I'd meet
Such a beautiful girl
Walking down the street
Seen those bright brown eyes
With tears coming down
She deserves a crown
But where is it now
Mamma listen
Senorita, I feel for you
You deal with things, that you don't have to
He doesn't love ya, I can tell by his charm
But you could feel this real love
If you just lay in my
Running fast in my mind
Girl don't you slow it down
If we carry on this way
This thing might leave the ground
How would you like to fly?
That's how my queen should arrive
But you still deserve the crown
Or hasn't it been found?
Mamma listen
Senorita, I feel for you
(Feel for you)
You deal with things, that you don't have to
(No, no)
He doesn't love ya, I can tell by his charm
(He don't love ya baby)
But you could feel this real love
(Feel it)
If you just lay in my
Ah, ah, arms
(Won't you lay in my)
Ah, ah, arms
(Mama lay in my)
Ah, ah, arms
(Baby won't you lay in my)
Ah, ah, arms
When I look into your eyes
I see something that money can't buy
And I know if you give us a try
I'll work hard for you girl
And no longer will you ever have to cry
Senorita, I feel for you
You deal with things, that you don't have to
(Deal with things you don't have to)
He doesn't love ya, I can tell by his charm
(No, no)
But you could feel this real love
(Feel it)
If you just lay in my
Ah, ah, arms
(Whoa)
Ah, ah, arms
(My baby)
Ah, ah, arms
(Oh, yea)
Ah, ah, arms
When I look into your eyes
I see something that money can't buy
And I know if you give us a try
I'll work hard for you girl
You won't ever cry
Now listen
I wanna try somethin' right now
See they don't do this anymore
I'm a sing something
And I want the guys to sing wit' me
They go
"It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?"
And then the ladies go
"I don't know what I'm thinking bout, really leaving with you"
Guys sing
It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?
And ladies
I don't know what I'm thinking bout, really leaving with you
Feels good don't it, come on
It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?
Yea, ladies
I don't know what I'm thinking bout, really leaving with you
Show the good to me
Sing it one more time
It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?
Ladies
I don't know what I'm thinking bout, really leaving with you
Yea, yea
It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?
Ladies
I don't know what I'm thinking bout, really leaving with you
Gentlemen, good night
Ladies, good morning
That's it
It's my pleasure to introduce to you
He's a friend of mine
Yes, yes I am
And he goes by the name
Justin
All the way
From Memphis, Tennessee
And he's got somethin' special for y'all tonight
He's gonna sing a song for y'all
About this girl
Come in right here?
Yeah, come on
On that sunny day
Didn't know I'd meet
Such a beautiful girl
Walking down the street
Seen those bright brown eyes
With tears coming down
She deserves a crown
But where is it now
Mamma listen
Senorita, I feel for you
You deal with things, that you don't have to
He doesn't love ya, I can tell by his charm
But you could feel this real love
If you just lay in my
Running fast in my mind
Girl don't you slow it down
If we carry on this way
This thing might leave the ground
How would you like to fly?
That's how my queen should arrive
But you still deserve the crown
Or hasn't it been found?
Mamma listen
Senorita, I feel for you
(Feel for you)
You deal with things, that you don't have to
(No, no)
He doesn't love ya, I can tell by his charm
(He don't love ya baby)
But you could feel this real love
(Feel it)
If you just lay in my
Ah, ah, arms
(Won't you lay in my)
Ah, ah, arms
(Mama lay in my)
Ah, ah, arms
(Baby won't you lay in my)
Ah, ah, arms
When I look into your eyes
I see something that money can't buy
And I know if you give us a try
I'll work hard for you girl
And no longer will you ever have to cry
Senorita, I feel for you
You deal with things, that you don't have to
(Deal with things you don't have to)
He doesn't love ya, I can tell by his charm
(No, no)
But you could feel this real love
(Feel it)
If you just lay in my
Ah, ah, arms
(Whoa)
Ah, ah, arms
(My baby)
Ah, ah, arms
(Oh, yea)
Ah, ah, arms
When I look into your eyes
I see something that money can't buy
And I know if you give us a try
I'll work hard for you girl
You won't ever cry
Now listen
I wanna try somethin' right now
See they don't do this anymore
I'm a sing something
And I want the guys to sing wit' me
They go
"It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?"
And then the ladies go
"I don't know what I'm thinking bout, really leaving with you"
Guys sing
It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?
And ladies
I don't know what I'm thinking bout, really leaving with you
Feels good don't it, come on
It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?
Yea, ladies
I don't know what I'm thinking bout, really leaving with you
Show the good to me
Sing it one more time
It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?
Ladies
I don't know what I'm thinking bout, really leaving with you
Yea, yea
It feels like something's heating up, can I leave with you?
Ladies
I don't know what I'm thinking bout, really leaving with you
Gentlemen, good night
Ladies, good morning
That's it
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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”
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.
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.
They play this song on the radio when I'm on the bus all the time, it's really uplifting and great to sing along to.