"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.
Will you accept a collect call
From Robert Plant?
We picked him up on Vine
On a bus bench singing that song
This is not the 1st time
He was so cute
Jonny Punk Rock, so cynical
You woulda jumped him too!
Why are the burners always toast?
Why are the stoners always stoned?
Why did the chicken cross the road?
The Zeplin song
I got a job minimum wage & a tabledance
He drinks my beer and plays guitar
He's on my bed wasted every night when I come home
Play the same 'ol lead again & again..
Sometimes I gotta say shutup
Sometimes I gotta say so what
I don't think that it's so punk
What's with the Zeplin song
Sometimes I gotta ride
Sometimes I gotta hide
Sometimes I press rewind
I gotta throw the trash out
He's on a stairway to hell
Yeah that is him
Playin' the zeplin song again & again & again & again & again & again
I'm a guitar
Honest pop single cut away
Please don't play that song on me again
I'll explode
I'll break all my strings, stop playing shit
Like the Sex Pistols are anything
Why does he rain on my parade?
Why does the song remain the same?
I can't remember my own name
I work for minimum wage
Oh go sell it to Jimmy Page
At the crosses the deal he made
Cuz that song ain't goin' away
Oh God the Zeplin song
Nono the Zeplin song
Here comes the Zeplin song
Oh God the Zeplin song
SHUT UP!
From Robert Plant?
We picked him up on Vine
On a bus bench singing that song
This is not the 1st time
He was so cute
Jonny Punk Rock, so cynical
You woulda jumped him too!
Why are the burners always toast?
Why are the stoners always stoned?
Why did the chicken cross the road?
The Zeplin song
I got a job minimum wage & a tabledance
He drinks my beer and plays guitar
He's on my bed wasted every night when I come home
Play the same 'ol lead again & again..
Sometimes I gotta say shutup
Sometimes I gotta say so what
I don't think that it's so punk
What's with the Zeplin song
Sometimes I gotta ride
Sometimes I gotta hide
Sometimes I press rewind
I gotta throw the trash out
He's on a stairway to hell
Yeah that is him
Playin' the zeplin song again & again & again & again & again & again
I'm a guitar
Honest pop single cut away
Please don't play that song on me again
I'll explode
I'll break all my strings, stop playing shit
Like the Sex Pistols are anything
Why does he rain on my parade?
Why does the song remain the same?
I can't remember my own name
I work for minimum wage
Oh go sell it to Jimmy Page
At the crosses the deal he made
Cuz that song ain't goin' away
Oh God the Zeplin song
Nono the Zeplin song
Here comes the Zeplin song
Oh God the Zeplin song
SHUT UP!
Lyrics submitted by almostmanda
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
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”
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.
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.
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.
I know exactly what this song means and its so hilarious. courtney love is like the last authentic rocker of our times- screw what anybody else says about her personal life or artistic ability....
i'll interpret it here for you guys:
"Will you accept a collect call From Robert Plant? We picked him up on Vine On a bus bench singing that song This is not the 1st time He was so cute Jonny Punk Rock, so cynical You woulda jumped him too!
[i think she's caustically joking about how there are cover band musicians out there that want to emulate Led Zeppelin and other rock bands but come out dirt poor (hence the collect call and a pick up at the bus stop) and sleazy. well first i imagine this musician is first in a ramone's cover band- hence johnny punk rock but then as time progresses and this guy is still in cover bands and hasn't made it, is then doing led zeppelin]
I got a job minimum wage & a tabledance He drinks my beer and plays guitar He's on my bed wasted every night when I come home Play the same 'ol lead again & again..
Sometimes I gotta ride Sometimes I gotta hide Sometimes I press rewind I gotta throw the trash out He's on a stairway to hell Yeah that is him Playin' the zeplin song again & again & again & again & again & again
In the two paragraphs above she's speaking from the dead-end musicians girlfriend's point of view she's basically lamenting on how much a loser this guy is because he's always wasted drinking her beer and playing the same fucken song again and again...and how she tries to avoid the musician's obnoxious behavior by playing tv, and hiding away from him, basically she's dependent upon him cause she's a stripper -hence "the minimum wage and table dance quote" Then she juxtaposes stairway to hell with stairway to heaven by led zep cause he's not going anywhere
"I'm a guitar Honest pop single cut away Please don't play that song on me again I'll explode I'll break all my strings, stop playing shit Like the Sex Pistols are anything
obviously this is from that beat up guitar's point of view, freaken hilarious!
"Why does he rain on my parade? Why does the song remain the same? I can't remember my own name I work for minimum wage Oh go sell it to Jimmy Page At the crosses the deal he made Cuz that song ain't goin' away Oh God the Zeplin song Nono the Zeplin song Here comes the Zeplin song Oh God the Zeplin song SHUT UP! "
So at the end, love is making a point that this guy is just a freaken sell-out or just doesn't have any creative input to the music scene. who just wants to party and not do anything creative, basically a sleaze instead of a bob dylan or kurt kobain. I don't know how i understand the song, i guess its cause i've browsed musician classifieds long enough to get the hunch there are guys in their forties doing gigs on songs that are totally overplayed...but love makes it so hilarious i literally laugh in my car when i play like all the time...