"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.
You remind me of home
The paint cracks when the water leaks from the rusty pipes that are just beneath my feet
You remind me of home
The heater's warm but fills the room with a potpourri of dust and gas fumes
You remind me of home
A broken bed with dirty sheets that creaks when I am shifting in my sleep
You remind me of home
In a suburban town with nothing to do, patiently waiting for something to happen
But the foundation is crumbling
And becoming one with the ground
While you lay there in slumber
You're wasting your life
Wasting your life
You remind me of home
Sitting on a thrift store couch, I'm trying to get this all down
The paint cracks when the water leaks from the rusty pipes that are just beneath my feet
You remind me of home
The heater's warm but fills the room with a potpourri of dust and gas fumes
You remind me of home
A broken bed with dirty sheets that creaks when I am shifting in my sleep
You remind me of home
In a suburban town with nothing to do, patiently waiting for something to happen
But the foundation is crumbling
And becoming one with the ground
While you lay there in slumber
You're wasting your life
Wasting your life
You remind me of home
Sitting on a thrift store couch, I'm trying to get this all down
Lyrics submitted by fish eat steel
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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'll also agree, he doesn't say lie, it's life. To me this song is about a person, probably a girl, who reminds him about home. Not the good things about home though, the parts about home that made him feel like he was wasting his life just staying there. And so this person also reminds him of that time in his life. He/she is stuck somewhere and it's only their fault if they don't stop thinking about it and do something to add meaning to their life.
GREAT SONG!
this song is beautiful.
i love this song :) and yea, it's "life" not "lie"
i love this song.. "in a suburban town with nothing to do.. patiently waiting for something to happen.." that's life & i love ben gibbard
I totally agree with kb1422.
I cannot listen to this song without listening to it at least twice. I think it's about a guy who's telling a girl that even with all the bad things that are happening with them, she's still his life, and leaving her would be like leaving home.
and home is still where he wants to be, or he'd have gone before.
it doesn't have to be about a girl just because he says, "you"
maybe it's a guy friend of his, or a family member.
who knows?
it doesn't matter.
see it as what it is; a great song
To me, it seems he's talking to a parent. I can really relate this to my own situation with my mother, how she never amounted to much of anything. Regardless, the little things I remember make me feel at home, and when I can't go anywhere else, I can turn to her. Also, "the foundation is crumbling" makes me think more of growing old than a failing relationship, however, it's to be taken as each individual takes it.