"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.
Tired of looking sideways
But the things in black and white
No more, no more
Arguing my case to the wee hours of the night
What for? What for? What for?
Put it in your face and let the petals fall
Cursing your family name
Rather be unhappy that's the cause of it all
Panicked and hateful, with nothing to blame
That's a useful dream that pretended to explain
But no more, no more, no more
Superstition in the image of
One I already believe
Easier to use because I made it up to deal with the same things
Tired of looking sideways
But the thing's in black and white
What for? What for? What for?
But the things in black and white
No more, no more
Arguing my case to the wee hours of the night
What for? What for? What for?
Put it in your face and let the petals fall
Cursing your family name
Rather be unhappy that's the cause of it all
Panicked and hateful, with nothing to blame
That's a useful dream that pretended to explain
But no more, no more, no more
Superstition in the image of
One I already believe
Easier to use because I made it up to deal with the same things
Tired of looking sideways
But the thing's in black and white
What for? What for? What for?
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.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
i interpret this as him saying his depression is kind of a lie, even though it's not- i do this to myself to where i'll criticize myself for being depressed and feel it's just a thing i do to cast blame, and remain paralyzed so i don't have to function- so i can stay helpless.
"arguing his case" is all the negative thinking where he might feel he's trying to convince himself he has a reason to feel so mentally incapacitated, all the while feeling himself a farce.
He also, in my interpretation, is saying that his depression is a "useful dream" in that it allows him to be useless- it lowers one's expectations of oneself because you can blame everything on the depression instead of dealing with your situation proactively.
it isn't logical thinking, but i partake in it, and i think this is what he means.
this thinking is replicated in King's Crossing where he refers to himself as a "method actor".