"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.
cause what i feel inside
i dont want to hide
it's you that got to me
its what i want to sing
cause i've got a dream for us
running through my mind
sitting on the beach
looking at the sea
and we're old and tired
and time has made us smile
as we go on counting things
people in the breeze
we're not the only ones
there's hundreds on the shore
looking at the sea
but it's just you and me
if the day never comes
i sink beneath the tide
will you still be with me
or disappear?
i dont want to hide
it's you that got to me
its what i want to sing
cause i've got a dream for us
running through my mind
sitting on the beach
looking at the sea
and we're old and tired
and time has made us smile
as we go on counting things
people in the breeze
we're not the only ones
there's hundreds on the shore
looking at the sea
but it's just you and me
if the day never comes
i sink beneath the tide
will you still be with me
or disappear?
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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.
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.
Atemporal is 21, so yes this world is definately going straight to hell with close minded souless bastards like him. He also thinks he is a punk and likes NOFX, therefore he wants to prove himself by calling others pussies.
People like Atemporal and every other one of you sacks of shit that made fun of somebody crying over a song are exactly the types of people that should not exist on this earth. These people are only good for causing pain and suffering, manual labor, or sending off to war.
hehe. at least he can spell!!!! :D
i don't think your boyfriend is a wuss. this is a beautiful song, enough to make anybody shed a tear. i think these other guys are just too self conscious to let anyone see all of them.
how can no one have commented about this song? i put this song as the last song on a mix i made for my boyfriend, and he cried when he heard it. he doesn't listen to all of the music i do, but we bonded on a level i never thought possible, and all because of this song. <3
thats so sweet man...i agree...catagorization is such a lame thing...if you like something you like it...thats all it should be...dont need to go ragging on somebody cause they like different things then you...if you enjoy something then listen to it...if not...who cares?...that monopoly statement was wack as hell though...
this song is amazing - it sort of makes me depressed, but "cause what i feel inside i dont want to hide it's you that got to me" is one of the greatest things i've ever heard
and i totally agree with deaffromsilence - the people who think like atemporal probably just shouldnt be alive. this song made me shed a tear - and i really don't care...neither should you..just admit you cried and it will all be okay :)
meh. cry or no cry, its a good song. everyone stop getting so personal all the time. music is to be interpreted in different ways, so however you react to a song is your reaction and nobody elses business.
when i heard this song i welled up, but i dont really cry. and i welled up with joy at the ending part...because its pretty much totally perfect.
awesome song,i had it for a long time and never listened to it because the intro was so long i figured it was going to be an instrumental,then one night i was laying in bed listening to it and i heard the lyrics and it hit.this song is perfection,nothing needs to be added,its perfection and nothing less.once i started listening to Pedro the Lion i never thought i would find anything else that i could relate to so well,but the Appleseed cast proved me wrong by writing songs like this.i remember laying in the sand one day as the water came up and just floating back and forth with the tide and thinking of this song running my fingers across the sand,just thinking about things.
this song is amazing and i wish more people could hear appleseed cast and their music. they are sim ply amazing and are one of my favorite bands
I love how this is like a reprise to "Hanging Marionette."