"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.
Now here I lie in the street
An invitation for you to steal a glance at me
While all the village, it gathers
To watch the vultures devour this decaying matter
Come one, come all, (hey, hey, hey)
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
You want to, You want to, You want to, You want to
Now everyone can say good night to the bad guy
The children fiend for the spoils
Divide what remains before it sinks in the soil
With a gash below the waste
Out it came like milk for everyone to taste
But now it's curdled and sour
Ripe for your stomach to turn in about an hour
Come one, come all, (hey, hey, hey)
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
You want to, You want to, You want to, You want to
Now everyone can say good night to the bad guy
Now everyone can say good night to the bad guy
Just for a minute pretend
In this illusion that we were ever friends
Nothing is more expensive
Yet it's been given to you at such a bargain
But now the serum is sour
'Cause I was never here for you to devour
Come one, come all, (hey, hey, hey)
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
You want to, You want to, You want to, You want to
Now everyone can say good night to the bad guy
Now everyone can say good night to the bad guy
An invitation for you to steal a glance at me
While all the village, it gathers
To watch the vultures devour this decaying matter
Come one, come all, (hey, hey, hey)
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
You want to, You want to, You want to, You want to
Now everyone can say good night to the bad guy
The children fiend for the spoils
Divide what remains before it sinks in the soil
With a gash below the waste
Out it came like milk for everyone to taste
But now it's curdled and sour
Ripe for your stomach to turn in about an hour
Come one, come all, (hey, hey, hey)
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
You want to, You want to, You want to, You want to
Now everyone can say good night to the bad guy
Now everyone can say good night to the bad guy
Just for a minute pretend
In this illusion that we were ever friends
Nothing is more expensive
Yet it's been given to you at such a bargain
But now the serum is sour
'Cause I was never here for you to devour
Come one, come all, (hey, hey, hey)
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
Whoever wants a taste of me take it for free
You want to, You want to, You want to, You want to
Now everyone can say good night to the bad guy
Now everyone can say good night to the bad guy
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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"
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
Everyones idea so far makes sense for one part of the song. it nearly makes sense talking about Jesus, and now that we got him we can say goodnite to the bad guy, but then wat does it mean when i says " but now its curdled and sour, ripe for your stomach to turn in about an hour" ?
an i like JLew's idea, that would just about all make sense, but then wat would "say good nite to the bad guy mean" ?
i dont get this song an wat its about, someone should ask andrew himself.