"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.
We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts
We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts
It's a little too late, too late, too late for this
Isn't it a little too late for this
Little too late, too late for this
Isn't it a little too late for this
You know you have a permanent piece
Of my medium-sized American heart
We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts
We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts
Are we gone
Come on yeah, we know we're gone
Bye bye bye
Bye bye bye we know we're gone
Take all your reasons and take them away
To the middle of nowhere, and on your way home
Throw from your window your record collection
They all run together and never make sense
But that's how we like it, and that's all we want
Something to cry for, and something to hunt
Are we gone
Come on yeah, we know we're gone
Bye bye bye
Bye bye bye we know we're gone
We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts
We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts
It's a little too late, too late, too late for this
Isn't it a little too late for this
Little too late, too late for this
Isn't it a little too late for this
You know you have a permanent piece
Of my medium-sized American heart
So don't wear the watch
When you're out with the cunts
You can break what you have, but the rest of it's mine
Take all your reasons and take them away
To the middle of nowhere, and on your way home
Throw from your window your record collection
They all run together and never make sense
But that's how we like it, and that's all we want
Something to cry for, and something to hunt
We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts
It's a little too late, too late, too late for this
Isn't it a little too late for this
Little too late, too late for this
Isn't it a little too late for this
You know you have a permanent piece
Of my medium-sized American heart
We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts
We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts
Are we gone
Come on yeah, we know we're gone
Bye bye bye
Bye bye bye we know we're gone
Take all your reasons and take them away
To the middle of nowhere, and on your way home
Throw from your window your record collection
They all run together and never make sense
But that's how we like it, and that's all we want
Something to cry for, and something to hunt
Are we gone
Come on yeah, we know we're gone
Bye bye bye
Bye bye bye we know we're gone
We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts
We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts
It's a little too late, too late, too late for this
Isn't it a little too late for this
Little too late, too late for this
Isn't it a little too late for this
You know you have a permanent piece
Of my medium-sized American heart
So don't wear the watch
When you're out with the cunts
You can break what you have, but the rest of it's mine
Take all your reasons and take them away
To the middle of nowhere, and on your way home
Throw from your window your record collection
They all run together and never make sense
But that's how we like it, and that's all we want
Something to cry for, and something to hunt
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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
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."
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."
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.
To me, this song is about dreaming your life away.
"We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts" This one means that we're stuck in searching for unreal, abstract meaning of life, for something greater than us, something godlike above us, like astronauts. We dream about better things which are unreachable for us. "Are we gone Come on, yeah we know we're gone bye bye bye bye bye bye we know e're gone" Those verses mean that we are perfectly aware that we waste our lives on imagination & dreaming thins, that we're gone in this dreamworld, but we don't care about it, because we like the situation we're in. We're comfortable with dreams.
And finally, the best lyrics in song: "They all run together and never make sense But that's how we like it, and that's all we want Something to cry for, and something to hunt." Last lyrics are about our wishes - all we want from life & arts is that they give something we could cry for, something romantic & heartbreaking, something what we'll hunt down in our memories for a long time.
yes.
"But that's how we like it, and that's all we want Something to cry for, and something to hunt"
What a great line to end on. This song is amazing.
You know you have a permanent piece Of my medium-sized American heart
I love this song. So much.
An interesting pattern I noticed that would support the theme of failure in the song:
"Mr. November" could likely reference Derek Jeter, nicknamed after Reggie Jackson's Mr. October who saved his best for last. But despite this nickname, Derek Jeter was 3 for 12 in November that season, and his team the Yankees ended up losing the World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks. So the pressure was on "Mr November" to bring out his best at the end of the season, but he failed, 'fucked us over'.
"Blue Bloods" is a racing movie in which the horse ultimately loses - failure again.
As was mentioned, "The Great White Hope" was the boxer who was supposed to beat African American boxer Jack Johnson, but ended up losing.
It seems the singer is looking at the situation from multiple perspectives at once in Matt's usual self-aware fashion. He is under pressure, and not wanting to let anyone down he reassures himself that he is "Mr. November", "The Great White Hope", "The New Blue Blood". But somewhere inside he doesn't really have confidence in himself, since Mr November, The Great White Hope, and The New Blue Blood all ultimately failed and let everyone down. He "wishes he believed in fate" - he wishes that he could believe that his destiny to be a winner was set, but instead he is full of self-doubt.
Mr. November is about the president bro
We're all looking for a perfect person to date/marry. Astronauts are ideal humans because they qualify for the job with their above average physical abilities and mental aptitudes. If you hold out too long looking for this perfect person, it might be too late to find anybody.
What does it mean though?
To me this song is about a woman that slept around. The line "we're out looking for astronauts" paints a picture of two lovers staring at a black sky with stars. Maybe this woman wasn't American maybe some European girl and he's admitting in a sort of mock of himself that she has a piece of his medium sized heart. I think "medium sized" refers to a lack of care or too much apathy. And he's in an argument with her telling her it's too late, and it's already gone. THen he tells her to take all her reasons away, like he doesn't want to hear any more excuses, take them out to the middle of nowhere so they could be left there to die, and while you drive back get rid of your horrible records (maybe he thought her taste in music was bad, maybe she was one of those French girls that listened to old records... haha, i dunno) or maybe throwing the record collection out of the window symbolizes anger or frustration, if it's going to stay consistent with my interpretation it would be that he's breaking up with her, telling her he doesn't want excuses and "by the way I never liked the music you listen to."
"they all run together and they never make sense" could be a reference to those records, at first I took this to mean that she has a shallow taste in music and all she's looking for is some cheap feeling from a song, and something to "hunt" like you find a song and kill it. Or it could mean that her arguments and excuses run together, don't make sense and that she just wants to argue, be emotional and accuse. But he still admits that she has his heart and he tells her not to wear the watch he gave to her as a present when she's around these sleazy guys she sleeps with.... or girls. and "You can break what you have but the rest of it's mine" may refer to the piece of his heart that she has, and he wants her to break it off, or it could also display a very selfish "have your cake and eat it too" attitude that she has.
And that's my crazy interpretation of this song. It's very visual, it paints a wonderful story.
To me, this song is about dreaming your life away.<br /> <br /> "We're out looking for astronauts, looking for astronauts"<br /> This one means that we're stuck in searching for unreal, abstract meaning of life, for something greater than us, something godlike above us, like astronauts. We dream about better things which are unreachable for us.<br /> "Are we gone<br /> Come on, yeah we know we're gone<br /> bye bye bye<br /> bye bye bye we know e're gone"<br /> Those verses mean that we are perfectly aware that we waste our lives on imagination & dreaming thins, that we're gone in this dreamworld, but we don't care about it, because we like the situation we're in. We're comfortable with dreams.<br /> <br /> And finally, the best lyrics in song:<br /> "They all run together and never make sense<br /> But that's how we like it, and that's all we want<br /> Something to cry for, and something to hunt."<br /> Last lyrics are about our wishes - all we want from life & arts is that they give something we could cry for, something romantic & heartbreaking, something what we'll hunt down in our memories for a long time.<br />
sounds like he's out looking to score some drugs so he can keep ignoring his failing relationship
Just being outside at night with someone (or the someones) you love. Fucking around, possibly getting drunk or high, looking at the stars. You know that this world is shit, and that your life is boring, and you feel like you're going nowhere, but you have someone with you and that's all anyone wants. God I love this song! It's so wistful and slightly sad, but more than anything it's a celebration of true friendship and love. At least that's how it sounds to me.