"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.
A-look-a-there
Here she comes
Here comes that girl again
Wanted to date her since I don't know when
But she don't notice me when I pass
She goes with older guys from out of my class
But that can't stop me from a-thinkin' to myself
She's sure fine lookin' man
She's somethin' else
Hey look-a there
Across the street
There's a car made just for me
To own that car would be a luxury
But right now I can't afford the gas
A brand new convertible is out of my class
But that can't stop me from a-thinkin' to myself
That car's fine lookin' man
It's somethin' else
Hey look-a here
Just wait and see
Workin' hard and savin' my dough
I'll buy that car that I've be wanting so
Get me that girl and we'll go ridin' around
We'll look real sharp with the white top down
I'll keep right on and dreamin' and a-thinkin' to myself
When it all comes true, man
Wow, that's somethin' else!
Look-a here
What's all this?
Never thought I'd do this before
But here I am a-knockin' on her door
My car's out front and it's all mine
Just a '41 Ford, not a '59
I got that girl and I'm a-thinkin' to myself
She's sure fine lookin' man
Wow, she's somethin' else!
Here she comes
Here comes that girl again
Wanted to date her since I don't know when
But she don't notice me when I pass
She goes with older guys from out of my class
But that can't stop me from a-thinkin' to myself
She's sure fine lookin' man
She's somethin' else
Hey look-a there
Across the street
There's a car made just for me
To own that car would be a luxury
But right now I can't afford the gas
A brand new convertible is out of my class
But that can't stop me from a-thinkin' to myself
That car's fine lookin' man
It's somethin' else
Hey look-a here
Just wait and see
Workin' hard and savin' my dough
I'll buy that car that I've be wanting so
Get me that girl and we'll go ridin' around
We'll look real sharp with the white top down
I'll keep right on and dreamin' and a-thinkin' to myself
When it all comes true, man
Wow, that's somethin' else!
Look-a here
What's all this?
Never thought I'd do this before
But here I am a-knockin' on her door
My car's out front and it's all mine
Just a '41 Ford, not a '59
I got that girl and I'm a-thinkin' to myself
She's sure fine lookin' man
Wow, she's somethin' else!
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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“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 song really means that he likes this girl and he is thinking how she is something else other than the same as any other girl in the world. And I do believe that many guys can relate to this in some sort of a way.