"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.
Lost my shape
Trying to act casual
Can't stop
I might end up in the hospital
Changing my shape
I feel like an accident
They're back
To explain their experience
Isn't it weird?
Looks too obscure to me
Wasting away
And that was their policy
I'm ready to leave
I push the fact in front of me
Facts lost
Facts are never what they seem to be
Nothing there
No information left of any kind
Lifting my head
Looking for the danger signs
There was a line
There was a formula
Sharp as a knife
Facts cut a hole in us
There was a line
There was a formula
Sharp as a knife
Facts cut a hole in us
Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting
Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting
The feeling returns
Whenever we close our eyes
Lifting my head
Looking around inside
The island of doubt
Is like the taste of medicine
Working by hindsight
Got the message from the oxygen
Making a list
Find the cost of opportunity
Doing it right
Facts are useless in emergencies
The feeling returns
Whenever we close our eyes
Lifting my head
Looking around inside
Facts are simple and facts are straight
Facts are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to
Facts just twist the truth around
Facts are living turned inside out
Facts are getting the best of them
Facts are nothing on the face of things
Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting
Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting
Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting
Trying to act casual
Can't stop
I might end up in the hospital
Changing my shape
I feel like an accident
They're back
To explain their experience
Isn't it weird?
Looks too obscure to me
Wasting away
And that was their policy
I'm ready to leave
I push the fact in front of me
Facts lost
Facts are never what they seem to be
Nothing there
No information left of any kind
Lifting my head
Looking for the danger signs
There was a line
There was a formula
Sharp as a knife
Facts cut a hole in us
There was a line
There was a formula
Sharp as a knife
Facts cut a hole in us
Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting
Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting
The feeling returns
Whenever we close our eyes
Lifting my head
Looking around inside
The island of doubt
Is like the taste of medicine
Working by hindsight
Got the message from the oxygen
Making a list
Find the cost of opportunity
Doing it right
Facts are useless in emergencies
The feeling returns
Whenever we close our eyes
Lifting my head
Looking around inside
Facts are simple and facts are straight
Facts are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to
Facts just twist the truth around
Facts are living turned inside out
Facts are getting the best of them
Facts are nothing on the face of things
Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting
Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting
Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
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.
I think this is an argument about the nature of human beings. Humans tend to shape things in order to fill holes. They label, the examine, they change. We have removed ourselves from evolution in this way.
Byrne I think is arguing that our need and obsession with doing this is actually doing the opposite. Its making us lose ourself, and making our understanding less complete. The whole album I think is about this to a degree.
The definition of post-modern.
@istareatthesun Just came here to say this makes zero sense.<br /> <br /> "They label, the examine, they change"<br /> <br /> "Its making us lose ourself, and making our understanding less complete." <br /> <br /> These two contradict each other like hell. <br /> <br /> We are "losing our self" because we are labelling(giving things names to get a better UNDERSTANDING of them). <br /> <br /> We are "losing our self" because we are examining(A fucking thing to help UNDERSTANDING be done). <br /> <br /> We are "losing our self" because we are changing(progressing, after UNDERSTANDING past problems to not repeat them like a fucking idiot or to solve them.) <br /> <br /> And apparent this is making our "understanding" less complete, whatever to hell that vague phrase means. If this is what Byrne was actually trying to say... That's dumb.
Byrne likes to play with abstract ideas, and art images. He commented in a NY Times interview that he liked to do things like collect photos of hands, blow them up and then arrange them on a wall “until they make sense to me”.
That said, I think he was playing with the idea of actually becoming formless, being disembodied; the intellect would have no physical clues, and start deconstructing and obsessing about “Facts.” Just my feeling, I´m probably way off the mark…
I imagine this is a snapshot of hectic life in the NY party circa 1980, at least from David Byrne's neurotic personae. He can't relax, and is trying to take refuge in intellectualizing the situation.
I also agree with istareatthesun's more general point, this song is about the inadequacy of the abstraction to deal with the physicality of the body in crisis mode. Culture can't catch up -- I'm still waiting.
well there is definitely a difference between fact and interpretation
This is one of my favorite Talking Heads songs, and I can't explain why. Well, it sounds great! But do I understand what it means? Hell no.
Its meaning is like an amorphous blob. Try to hold onto it, and you discover it's an impossible task. The harder you work at grasping it, the more it slips through your hands! Almost as if it has a rudimentary sort of intelligence...an instinct to escape from being pinned down.
I wonder whether (metaphorically?) that's what this song is about. The harder you think about something, the more inexplicable it seems. There are facts, and there's truth. Is it possible to close the gap separating what's factual from what is truthful? Is there any point in trying?
Going into conniptions from overanalysing one or any situation.
It is my opinion that David Byrne, in this song and others on the album, is expressing his distrust of 'facts' and the resulting desperation for truth and paranoia of being lied to (the album title Remain in Light speaks for itself here). Facts that have been twisted, fogged, or even outright fabricated, and then fed as truths to the society/flock of sheep that are all too happy to eat them up without once questioning them.
The music video proves this to be a badass dance song.
Well judging by the multiple references to medical related situations, and the opening two lines, I'd say he was facing a medical crisis, and in denial.
i love everyones interpretations. currently listening to this amazing album.