"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.
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
Fictitious styles of living
We've expected to work
But this is all your giving
Half of what your worth
Pigeon hold in battles
Overtones of snow in her clutch
Falling through lines
One more breath destroys
The best of you
The death of you
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
A precious gift embedded
Deep within your skin
But parasitic pleasures
Are closer than kin
Please expose your shadows
Such concerns are products of love
Falling in lies
One more fraud destroys
Our trust in you
Our love for you
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
As you kiss the abstract
And pray it's everything you'd hoped for
The smell of her, the thrill of her
The fruit of her, the use of her
Is killing everything that you've worked for
The smell of her, the thrill of her
The fruit of her, the use of her
Is killing everything that you've worked for
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
The smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Lucifer
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
Fictitious styles of living
We've expected to work
But this is all your giving
Half of what your worth
Pigeon hold in battles
Overtones of snow in her clutch
Falling through lines
One more breath destroys
The best of you
The death of you
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
A precious gift embedded
Deep within your skin
But parasitic pleasures
Are closer than kin
Please expose your shadows
Such concerns are products of love
Falling in lies
One more fraud destroys
Our trust in you
Our love for you
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
As you kiss the abstract
And pray it's everything you'd hoped for
The smell of her, the thrill of her
The fruit of her, the use of her
Is killing everything that you've worked for
The smell of her, the thrill of her
The fruit of her, the use of her
Is killing everything that you've worked for
Styling your shroud
Infecting the crowd
Steady letting the fruit of her thrill
Fool you so well
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
Smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Use of her
The smell of her
Thrill of her
Fruit of her
Lucifer
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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"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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."
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
"Half Life"
The time required for the activity of a substance taken into the body to lose one half its initial effectiveness. (This I believe is important in deciphering what the song is exactly about, I believe it is about a drug....Specifically cocaine.)
"Styling your shroud Infecting the crowd Steady letting the fruit of her thrill Fool you so well"
I think styling your shroud means concealing your internal pain by use of a drug, and possibly infecting the crowd means you're having an impact on those around you and in a negative way. "Her" I believe is the drug and not an actual person, and gradually you let in the effects of this drug but it's fooling you because it won;t last for long and will probably end up doing more harm to you eventually.
"Fictitious styles of living We've expected to work But this is all your giving Half of what your worth Pigeon hold in battles Overtones of snow in her clutch Falling through lines One more breath destroys the best of you The death of you"
You're not living in reality when on this drug, and are just fooling yourself in the process and doing it quite easily because of the need for the drug. And possibly the ending of this verse is describing an overdose.
"A precious gift embedded deep within your skin But parasitic pleasures are closer than kin Please expose your shadows Such concerns are products of love Falling in lies One more fraud destroys our trust in you Our love for you"
This describes the pleasure of the drug being more important to you than any people ever could be, including family. And if somebody were to address your habit, they would be doing it in an effort to help you. But you lie about your habit, and you're no longer trustworthy or an honest person as the drug has taken over you and you love the drug more than loved ones so they in return do not love you anymore.
"As you kiss the abstract And pray it's everything you'd hoped for The smell of her, the thrill of her The fruit of her, the use of her Is killing everything that you've worked for"
Distancing yourself further from reality, throwing your life away. it's also interesting that the very origin of the word "Half-Life" in 1864, meant unsatisfactory way of living.