"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.
Smile like you've got nothing to prove
No matter what you might do
There's always someone out there cooler than you
I know it's hard to believe
But there are people you meet
They're into something that is too big to be
Expressed through their clothes
And they'll put up with all the poses you throw
And you won't even know
That they're not sizing you up
They know your mom fucked you up
Or maybe let you watch too much TV
But they'll still look in your eyes
To find the human inside
You know there's always something to see
Beneath the veneer
Not everybody made the list this year
Have a beer
Make me feel tiny if it makes you feel tall
But there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah, you're the shit but you won't be it for long
Oh, there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah, there's always someone cooler than you
Now that I've got the disease
In a way I'm relieved
'cause I don't have to stress about it like you do.
I might just get up and dance
Or buy some acid wash pants
When you don't care then
You've got nothing to loose
And I won't hesitate
Because every moment life it slipping away
It's okay
Make me feel tiny if it make you feel tall
But there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah, you're the shit but you won't be it for long
But there's always someone cooler than you
Oh, there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah,there's always someone cooler than you
There's always someone cooler than
Life is wonderful
Oh, life is beautiful
We're all children of one big universe
So you don't have to be a chump
And you know that I won't hesitate
'cause every moment life is slipping away
It's okay
Make me feel tiny if it make you feel tall
Because there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah, you're the shit but you won't be it for long
But there's always someone cooler than you
Oh yeah, there's always someone cooler than you
Because there's always someone cooler than you
Cooler than you [Repeats]
Nerds go wild
No matter what you might do
There's always someone out there cooler than you
I know it's hard to believe
But there are people you meet
They're into something that is too big to be
Expressed through their clothes
And they'll put up with all the poses you throw
And you won't even know
That they're not sizing you up
They know your mom fucked you up
Or maybe let you watch too much TV
But they'll still look in your eyes
To find the human inside
You know there's always something to see
Beneath the veneer
Not everybody made the list this year
Have a beer
Make me feel tiny if it makes you feel tall
But there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah, you're the shit but you won't be it for long
Oh, there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah, there's always someone cooler than you
Now that I've got the disease
In a way I'm relieved
'cause I don't have to stress about it like you do.
I might just get up and dance
Or buy some acid wash pants
When you don't care then
You've got nothing to loose
And I won't hesitate
Because every moment life it slipping away
It's okay
Make me feel tiny if it make you feel tall
But there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah, you're the shit but you won't be it for long
But there's always someone cooler than you
Oh, there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah,there's always someone cooler than you
There's always someone cooler than
Life is wonderful
Oh, life is beautiful
We're all children of one big universe
So you don't have to be a chump
And you know that I won't hesitate
'cause every moment life is slipping away
It's okay
Make me feel tiny if it make you feel tall
Because there's always someone cooler than you
Yeah, you're the shit but you won't be it for long
But there's always someone cooler than you
Oh yeah, there's always someone cooler than you
Because there's always someone cooler than you
Cooler than you [Repeats]
Nerds go wild
Lyrics submitted by Kid_Handsome
There's Always Someone Cooler Than You Lyrics as written by Benjamin Scott Folds Ben Folds
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
what does he mean "now that i've got the disease?"