"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.
Oh, baby don't you want to go?
Oh, baby don't you want to go?
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
Oh, baby don't you want to go?
Oh, baby don't you want to go?
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
Now one and one is two
Two and two is four
I'm heavy loaded, baby
I'm booked, I gotta go
Cryin' baby
Honey don't you want to go?
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
Now two and two is four
Four and two is six
You gonna keep monkeyin' round with your friend-boy, you gonna get your
Business all in a trick
But I'm cryin' baby
Honey don't you wanna go?
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
Now six and two is eight
Eight and two is ten
Friend-boy, she trick you one time
She sure gonna do it again
But I'm cryin' hey, hey
Baby don't you want to go?
To the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
I'm goin' to California
From there to Des Moines Iowa
Somebody will tell me that you
Need my help someday, cryin'
Hey, hey
Baby don't you want to go?
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
Oh, baby don't you want to go?
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
Oh, baby don't you want to go?
Oh, baby don't you want to go?
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
Now one and one is two
Two and two is four
I'm heavy loaded, baby
I'm booked, I gotta go
Cryin' baby
Honey don't you want to go?
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
Now two and two is four
Four and two is six
You gonna keep monkeyin' round with your friend-boy, you gonna get your
Business all in a trick
But I'm cryin' baby
Honey don't you wanna go?
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
Now six and two is eight
Eight and two is ten
Friend-boy, she trick you one time
She sure gonna do it again
But I'm cryin' hey, hey
Baby don't you want to go?
To the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
I'm goin' to California
From there to Des Moines Iowa
Somebody will tell me that you
Need my help someday, cryin'
Hey, hey
Baby don't you want to go?
Back to the land of California
To my sweet home Chicago
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Holiday
Bee Gees
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@[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.
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.
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
this song is my favourite johnson song. i dont no what it is about it, it just seems right to listen to. its just a perfect blues song, and im lucky to have been blessed with knowledge of robert johnson. unlike it seems, most people on this website. serisously, if you havnt heard this song listen to it.
Chicago actually lies in Illinois, not in California. This probably means Robert had not yet been to Chicago prior to the recording of this song. But it i think California could also be a metaphor, 'the land of california' could be an alternative way of saying: 'that place of great riches'.
Oh yeah check out this great site with a lot of lyrics and information about blues songs and blues in general: blueslyrics.tripod.com
i think the california/chicago line has more to do with him being a rambler. he is sad because he cannot change who he is and he is always going to have to go
As far as I know, the California line isn't anything abstarct or symbolic. Johnson had an aunt that lived in Port Chicago, California where he would visit. I think he's just saying he want to go back there bc he feels at home there. I don't think he ever meant to suggest Chicago, Illinois.