"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.
Fading, falling, lost in forever
Will I find a way to keep it together?
Am I strong enough to last through the weather
In the hurricane of my life?
Can it be a conscious decision?
That I look for ways to alter my vision?
Am I speeding towards another collision
In the alleyways of my life?
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Those who have fallen
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Those who have fallen
And please believe me
That my eyes deceive me
Don't stand me up
Just leave me
I have fallen again
This is the end
Pain redefined
Shaking, burning up with the fever
In the realm of pain, I am the deceiver
Now I lie to myself, so I can believer her
As she dissembles my life
I cannot dispel the illusion
All my hopes and dreams are drowned by confusion
Can I find a way to make a solution
That will reconfigure my life?
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Those who have fallen
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Those who have fallen
And please believe me
That my ears deceive me
Don't stand me up
Just leave me
I have fallen again
This is the end
Pain Redefined
And I know that stillness shatters
We have all been frightened by the
The sound of footsteps on the
Pavement of our lives
I stand and fight
I'm not afraid to die
Elochai
Bury me tonight
Please believe me
That the world deceives me
Don't stand me up
Just leave me
I have fallen again
This is the end
Pain Redefined
Will I find a way to keep it together?
Am I strong enough to last through the weather
In the hurricane of my life?
Can it be a conscious decision?
That I look for ways to alter my vision?
Am I speeding towards another collision
In the alleyways of my life?
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Those who have fallen
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Those who have fallen
And please believe me
That my eyes deceive me
Don't stand me up
Just leave me
I have fallen again
This is the end
Pain redefined
Shaking, burning up with the fever
In the realm of pain, I am the deceiver
Now I lie to myself, so I can believer her
As she dissembles my life
I cannot dispel the illusion
All my hopes and dreams are drowned by confusion
Can I find a way to make a solution
That will reconfigure my life?
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Those who have fallen
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Memories don't lie
You're no better than
Those who have fallen
And please believe me
That my ears deceive me
Don't stand me up
Just leave me
I have fallen again
This is the end
Pain Redefined
And I know that stillness shatters
We have all been frightened by the
The sound of footsteps on the
Pavement of our lives
I stand and fight
I'm not afraid to die
Elochai
Bury me tonight
Please believe me
That the world deceives me
Don't stand me up
Just leave me
I have fallen again
This is the end
Pain Redefined
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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"
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
I agree with Socom, The way david sings the song makes it feel like someone has abrubtly left him for no reason. He has no idea why.