"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.
If I want to sit in and drink super tenants in the day I will
No one's going to fucking tell me jack
But can you rely on anyone in this world?
No, you can't
It's not my fault there's wall-to-wall empty cans
Everyone wanted this to all go wrong for me from the start
It's fucked up that a man's life can just be attacked
Watching this morning with a beer
Is much better than relying on
Unknown cunts for mates I was given
That don't have my back
Scott texted me to say he'd have a look at the TV for me
But I laid it down telling him to fuck right off chap
Phoned this company out the yellow pages
Told them to take away the TV and fix it quick snap
The next day they took away the TV
Told me they would repair the little bit
That's broken round on the back
I thought that would be that but the next bit was on top
This was where it all started to get a bit out of hand
[Chorus 1]
No one gives a crap about Mike
That's why I'm acting nasty
You know what you can do with your life
Introduce it up your jacksie
'Cause no one gives a crap about Mike
That's why I'm acting nasty
You know what you can do with your life
Introduce it up your jacksie
The TV man comes back later, knocks on mine
To say he's found something in the back of the TV
I'm looking at it absolutely speechless, can't quite believe
He's trying to pull this fucking stunt on me
I knew it was a simple case of the power supply gone on the back
But he's trying to tap me up for more money
He says it's not like that and I'm like "Fuck off and die!"
And stick up my two fingers and one more to make three
He says "Don't talk to me like that", and I don't understand
My face is in his face, I tell him I understand perfectly
And he grabs my shirt and I grab his face with my hand
So he brings his fist up and twats me a good one on my cheek
Now I'm trying to pull his head down so I can knee it
But he's got my ear
He's twisting it round so much that it's
Really hurting me
And we both go down on the floor, and he pushes my head back
Onto the corner of the fridge which is, total agony
Then he gets up and runs out the kitchen, and out of the door
Shouting stuff to me, slams his door, shouting at me
So here I am in my house, drinking on my own settee
Everyone's a cunt in this life, no one's there for me
[Chorus 1]
If I want to sit in and drink super tenants in the day I will
No one's going to fucking tell me jack
But can you rely on anyone in this world?
No, you can't
It's all my fault there's wall-to-wall empty cans
I sat in the kitchen all fucked off
Imagining over and over what they're all doing behind my back
Dodgy things going on, actions I regretted
Stain bottle with a pipe and tin foil on the mat
Scott texted me to say he'd have a look at the TV for me
And I felt like just telling him to fuck right off chap
But what he said about wanting to do the right thing by both mates
And then opting to stay out? It seemed to match
But I told him he could make it up by fixing the TV
He said that's the least he could do to square things flat
I thought that would be that but then the next bit was mad
This is where everything started to all turn back
[Chorus 2]
The end of the something I did not want to end
Beginning of hard times to come
But something that was not meant to be is done
And this is the start of what was
He had to unscrew about fifteen screws
Before he could pull the panel off the back
To get in the fecking thing
But just as he did so, he said he saw something
That slipped inside behind the panel
Down the back of it
Must have been some leaflets or a bill maybe
I didn't want to lose the bill in case it was a final warning
So we both tried to get the back off and work out
If there was any more screws to get out
Or if we left any in
And when he looked down the back of the TV his eyes just froze
Before he rammed his hand in, saying, "No shit!"
He's looking at me absolutely speechless
He can't quite believe what he's trying to pull, out the slip
I get up wondering what he's smiling about
He's shaking his head at this point with, the biggest of grins
I look down the back of the TV and that's where it was
In all its glory?my thousand quid
[Chorus 2]
About two this afternoon the last of the people left my house
'Cause they never stop chatting 'til all the rackets gone
I really feel like things clicked into place at some point
Or maybe it's the fact that me and Alison really got on
Or maybe it's that I realized that it is true
No one's really there fighting for you in the last garrison
No one except yourself that is
No one except you
You are the one who's got your back 'til the last deeds done
Scott can't have my back 'til the absolute end
'Cause he's got to look out for what over his horizon
He's gotta make sure he's not lonely, not broke
It's enough to worry about keeping his own head above
I shut the door behind me, huddled up in my coat
Condensation floating off my breath, squinted out the sun
My jeans feel a bit tight, think I washed them too high
I was gonna be late, so I picked up my pace to run
[Chorus 2: Repeat 4X]
No one's going to fucking tell me jack
But can you rely on anyone in this world?
No, you can't
It's not my fault there's wall-to-wall empty cans
Everyone wanted this to all go wrong for me from the start
It's fucked up that a man's life can just be attacked
Watching this morning with a beer
Is much better than relying on
Unknown cunts for mates I was given
That don't have my back
Scott texted me to say he'd have a look at the TV for me
But I laid it down telling him to fuck right off chap
Phoned this company out the yellow pages
Told them to take away the TV and fix it quick snap
The next day they took away the TV
Told me they would repair the little bit
That's broken round on the back
I thought that would be that but the next bit was on top
This was where it all started to get a bit out of hand
[Chorus 1]
No one gives a crap about Mike
That's why I'm acting nasty
You know what you can do with your life
Introduce it up your jacksie
'Cause no one gives a crap about Mike
That's why I'm acting nasty
You know what you can do with your life
Introduce it up your jacksie
The TV man comes back later, knocks on mine
To say he's found something in the back of the TV
I'm looking at it absolutely speechless, can't quite believe
He's trying to pull this fucking stunt on me
I knew it was a simple case of the power supply gone on the back
But he's trying to tap me up for more money
He says it's not like that and I'm like "Fuck off and die!"
And stick up my two fingers and one more to make three
He says "Don't talk to me like that", and I don't understand
My face is in his face, I tell him I understand perfectly
And he grabs my shirt and I grab his face with my hand
So he brings his fist up and twats me a good one on my cheek
Now I'm trying to pull his head down so I can knee it
But he's got my ear
He's twisting it round so much that it's
Really hurting me
And we both go down on the floor, and he pushes my head back
Onto the corner of the fridge which is, total agony
Then he gets up and runs out the kitchen, and out of the door
Shouting stuff to me, slams his door, shouting at me
So here I am in my house, drinking on my own settee
Everyone's a cunt in this life, no one's there for me
[Chorus 1]
If I want to sit in and drink super tenants in the day I will
No one's going to fucking tell me jack
But can you rely on anyone in this world?
No, you can't
It's all my fault there's wall-to-wall empty cans
I sat in the kitchen all fucked off
Imagining over and over what they're all doing behind my back
Dodgy things going on, actions I regretted
Stain bottle with a pipe and tin foil on the mat
Scott texted me to say he'd have a look at the TV for me
And I felt like just telling him to fuck right off chap
But what he said about wanting to do the right thing by both mates
And then opting to stay out? It seemed to match
But I told him he could make it up by fixing the TV
He said that's the least he could do to square things flat
I thought that would be that but then the next bit was mad
This is where everything started to all turn back
[Chorus 2]
The end of the something I did not want to end
Beginning of hard times to come
But something that was not meant to be is done
And this is the start of what was
He had to unscrew about fifteen screws
Before he could pull the panel off the back
To get in the fecking thing
But just as he did so, he said he saw something
That slipped inside behind the panel
Down the back of it
Must have been some leaflets or a bill maybe
I didn't want to lose the bill in case it was a final warning
So we both tried to get the back off and work out
If there was any more screws to get out
Or if we left any in
And when he looked down the back of the TV his eyes just froze
Before he rammed his hand in, saying, "No shit!"
He's looking at me absolutely speechless
He can't quite believe what he's trying to pull, out the slip
I get up wondering what he's smiling about
He's shaking his head at this point with, the biggest of grins
I look down the back of the TV and that's where it was
In all its glory?my thousand quid
[Chorus 2]
About two this afternoon the last of the people left my house
'Cause they never stop chatting 'til all the rackets gone
I really feel like things clicked into place at some point
Or maybe it's the fact that me and Alison really got on
Or maybe it's that I realized that it is true
No one's really there fighting for you in the last garrison
No one except yourself that is
No one except you
You are the one who's got your back 'til the last deeds done
Scott can't have my back 'til the absolute end
'Cause he's got to look out for what over his horizon
He's gotta make sure he's not lonely, not broke
It's enough to worry about keeping his own head above
I shut the door behind me, huddled up in my coat
Condensation floating off my breath, squinted out the sun
My jeans feel a bit tight, think I washed them too high
I was gonna be late, so I picked up my pace to run
[Chorus 2: Repeat 4X]
Lyrics submitted by machineofgod
Empty Cans Lyrics as written by Michael Geoffrey Skinner
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
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Lord Huron
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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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."
When We Were Young
Blink-182
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
No Surprises
Radiohead
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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.
p.s lol its not a brid its a bird haha