"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.
Here she comes in a suit and tie
Shepard's bush and a leopard's pie
She marching to the funky beat
Of James Brown and his dancing feet
Gonna set your fish on fire
Pistol whipping of desire
So please do not resist your fate
I'll pick you up, yes, it's a date
How could I forget to mention the bicycle is a good invention?
Sitting there in a silent movie
Beside the only girl who really ever moved me
Happy days but sad I'm facin'
Heaven knows that I'm on the case, oh
How could I forget to mention the bicycle?
Somebody told the world
The beauty of your verse
My girl, I heard it first
The beauty of your verse
A sticky finger and a wicked taste
Got a lot of nerve and a lyrical case
Be sure to write it in your book
I promise not to look
Wanna smell your sunny face
Funny place, but it's never a waste
I'd hop this fence to make amends
I hope this movie never ends
How could I forget to mention the bicycle is a good invention?
Make it up, makin' you my business
A funny buttercup, gotta live for forgiveness
Happy days, but sad I'm facin'
Heaven knows I'm on the case, oh
How could I forget to mention the bicycle?
Somebody told the world
The beauty of your verse
My girl, I heard it first
The beauty of your verse
Somebody told the world
The beauty of your verse
My girl, I heard it first
The beauty of your verse
Shepard's bush and a leopard's pie
She marching to the funky beat
Of James Brown and his dancing feet
Gonna set your fish on fire
Pistol whipping of desire
So please do not resist your fate
I'll pick you up, yes, it's a date
How could I forget to mention the bicycle is a good invention?
Sitting there in a silent movie
Beside the only girl who really ever moved me
Happy days but sad I'm facin'
Heaven knows that I'm on the case, oh
How could I forget to mention the bicycle?
Somebody told the world
The beauty of your verse
My girl, I heard it first
The beauty of your verse
A sticky finger and a wicked taste
Got a lot of nerve and a lyrical case
Be sure to write it in your book
I promise not to look
Wanna smell your sunny face
Funny place, but it's never a waste
I'd hop this fence to make amends
I hope this movie never ends
How could I forget to mention the bicycle is a good invention?
Make it up, makin' you my business
A funny buttercup, gotta live for forgiveness
Happy days, but sad I'm facin'
Heaven knows I'm on the case, oh
How could I forget to mention the bicycle?
Somebody told the world
The beauty of your verse
My girl, I heard it first
The beauty of your verse
Somebody told the world
The beauty of your verse
My girl, I heard it first
The beauty of your verse
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Fast Car
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I Can't Go To Sleep
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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.
Punchline
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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 think hes talking about how he met a great girl, and was really in love with her, maybe even taking her virginity-- but he had his own path to go on and his own troubles to face and couldnt be with her because of it.... and that he still thinks highly of her and remembers when they were together and he had nothing but a bicycle...maybe im overly thinking it...eh.
i think hes talking about a relationship thats killing him. how he says "happy days but sad I'm facin" seems like its the "good times" of his life but hes not enjoying them
Where are the comments for this song? Everyones probably on the 50 Cent area of the site, "Yo DyS s0Ng iZZz Off tHe HooK!". Pfft.
Best B-side ever.
hahah yes! F' 50 and rap. Killer b-side too. I always thought the song was a about a date he went on but only had a bicycle.
i think this song is about having no idea where he is at a point and realising the thing he is missing is this girl, then the weirdness or slight oddness in her that someone would not usually find the beauty in but she's what he's missing. gosh man only 3 comments? the bicycle is a good invention guys.
This is often my catchphrase =P
i cant seem to find this song anywhere. would someone please add me on msn and send me this song (it would be much appreciated) - MHendriks909@hotmail.com
i love this song. its got a great funky beat to it.
This song is awesome! After hearing the 30-second sample on iTunes, I decided I just HAD to get hold of it, and eventually I did through Wippit.com. Like Lorrie commented above, the bicycle IS a good invention!
I think that this song might be talking about a young relationship. It begins with him asking a girl out on a date. the part about the bicycle makes me think about what is maybe silly or contrived attempts at conversation. like he was thinking hard about what he would say to her on the date, but forgot. i think it is a song about innocent relationship. together in a silent movie, not a silentmovie but a movie without conversation, he tries to woo her but messes up, his happiness become sad when he cannot spur conversation as he had planned. he completely looses the girls when the world learns of her beauty. if he had remembered to mention the bicycle he might have had a chance to make conversation...and maybe continued the relationship.
but i am sort of a pessimist.
The "girl" in the song is obviously the bicycle. He's fallen in love with his bike and wrote a song about how great a lover it is. DUH!