"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.
I made her from pieces of stars
The ones that fell when you shot through
A sky that burned not to return
No other element would do
Her soul was grown in the bathroom
Her heart is just a red balloon
I gave her lips from wild orchids
When she came out of the cocoon
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
I can barely see the sun
Now it's blue
I can barely see the sun
Because she kisses like a prototype
I programmed her with eye color
Majestic emerald green
Uploaded with your attitude
She will do it like a machine
But no matter how hard I've tried
She never smiles unless she's high
And just like you
Won't ever stop crying
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
I can barely see the sun
Now it's blue
I can barely see the sun
Because she kisses like a prototype
Kisses like a prototype of you
Please come back and rescue me from the machines
And I'll be wondering why you do it with somebody else
Please come back and rescue me
And I'll be wandering while you do it with somebody else
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
I can barely see the sun
Now it's blue
I can barely see the sun
She's a prototype of you
I can barely see the sun
Now it's blue
I can barely see the sun
Because she kisses like a prototype
Kisses like a prototype
The ones that fell when you shot through
A sky that burned not to return
No other element would do
Her soul was grown in the bathroom
Her heart is just a red balloon
I gave her lips from wild orchids
When she came out of the cocoon
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
I can barely see the sun
Now it's blue
I can barely see the sun
Because she kisses like a prototype
I programmed her with eye color
Majestic emerald green
Uploaded with your attitude
She will do it like a machine
But no matter how hard I've tried
She never smiles unless she's high
And just like you
Won't ever stop crying
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
I can barely see the sun
Now it's blue
I can barely see the sun
Because she kisses like a prototype
Kisses like a prototype of you
Please come back and rescue me from the machines
And I'll be wondering why you do it with somebody else
Please come back and rescue me
And I'll be wandering while you do it with somebody else
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
Not the real thing
I can barely see the sun
Now it's blue
I can barely see the sun
She's a prototype of you
I can barely see the sun
Now it's blue
I can barely see the sun
Because she kisses like a prototype
Kisses like a prototype
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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”
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
actually. this song was origonaly writen in pennsylvaina, where the singer and a friend joined together to create it. The friend created the lyrics which were about his recently ex girlfriend and how everywhere he went he would see people who looked like her, but weren't the "real thing"...