"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.
Sick of circling the same road
Sick of bearing the guilt
So open the windows to cool off
And heat pours in instead
Perfect in weakness
I'm only perfect in just your strength alone
All my efforts to clean me
Leave me putrid and filthy
And how can you look at me
When I can't stand myself
I'm tired to be honest
I'm nobody
Perfect in weakness
I'm only perfect in just your strength alone
Perfect in weakness
I'm only running in just your strength alone
I tried to kill you
You tried to save me
You save me
You save me
You save me
You save me
Perfect in weakness
I'm only perfect in just your strength alone
Perfect in weakness
I'm only running in just your strength alone
Sick of bearing the guilt
So open the windows to cool off
And heat pours in instead
Perfect in weakness
I'm only perfect in just your strength alone
All my efforts to clean me
Leave me putrid and filthy
And how can you look at me
When I can't stand myself
I'm tired to be honest
I'm nobody
Perfect in weakness
I'm only perfect in just your strength alone
Perfect in weakness
I'm only running in just your strength alone
I tried to kill you
You tried to save me
You save me
You save me
You save me
You save me
Perfect in weakness
I'm only perfect in just your strength alone
Perfect in weakness
I'm only running in just your strength alone
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
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.
From the band's own website:
1.4 Is Flyleaf a Christian band? The best answer we've gotten to date is:
Lacey: "WE ALL SHARE THE SAME FAITH. And so when we deal with the whole 'Christian band thing', we kind of think about something POD says, like, 'If you're a Christian, it affects everything in your life. So if you're a plumber, does that make you a Christian plumber?' I don't know the answer. We're a band, it's part of who we are, SO IT COMES OUT IN OUR MUSIC, AND IT'S THE FUEL FOR WHAT WE DO. And finding faith saved my life. So I'm not ashamed of it at all. AND MOST OF OUR ALBUM REFLECTS THAT." (emphases added)
flyleafonline.com/band/FAQ.php
Also II Corinthians 12.9: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (NIV)
Note that any work of art has a life and meaning independent from the artist, so if you want to take something else from this song you are free to do so. But to suggest that the artists may have meant something different when they've made their intentions quite clear, now THAT'S absurd.