"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.
Hold on slow down again from the top now and tell me everything
I know I've been gone for what seems like forever
But I'm here now waiting
To convince you that I'm not a ghost or a stranger
But closer than you think
She said just go on
To what you pretend is your life
But please don't die on me
Wings won't take me
Heights don't faze me
So take a step
But don't look down
Take a step
Now I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall
I'm think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on a rooftop ready to fall
Perpetual motion, the image won't focus
A blur is all that's seen
But here in this moment like the eye of the storm
It all came clear to me
I found a shoulder to lean on
An infallible reason to live all by itself
I took one last look from the heights that I once loved
And then I ran like hell
Wings won't take me
Heights don't faze me
So take a step
But don't look down
Take a step
Now I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I'm think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I count the times that I've been sorry
I know, I know
Now my compassion slowly drowns
I know, I know
If there's a time these walls could guard you
I know, I know
Then let that time be right now
Now I'm standing on the rooftop
Now I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I'm think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
Now I'm standing on the rooftop (ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on the rooftop (ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on a rooftop (ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on a rooftop ready to fall
I know I've been gone for what seems like forever
But I'm here now waiting
To convince you that I'm not a ghost or a stranger
But closer than you think
She said just go on
To what you pretend is your life
But please don't die on me
Wings won't take me
Heights don't faze me
So take a step
But don't look down
Take a step
Now I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall
I'm think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on a rooftop ready to fall
Perpetual motion, the image won't focus
A blur is all that's seen
But here in this moment like the eye of the storm
It all came clear to me
I found a shoulder to lean on
An infallible reason to live all by itself
I took one last look from the heights that I once loved
And then I ran like hell
Wings won't take me
Heights don't faze me
So take a step
But don't look down
Take a step
Now I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I'm think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I count the times that I've been sorry
I know, I know
Now my compassion slowly drowns
I know, I know
If there's a time these walls could guard you
I know, I know
Then let that time be right now
Now I'm standing on the rooftop
Now I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I'm think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
Now I'm standing on the rooftop (ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on the rooftop (ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on a rooftop (ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on a rooftop ready to fall
Lyrics submitted by ThisismyUsername
Ready to Fall Lyrics as written by Christopher Chasse Brandon Barnes
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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Plastic Bag
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“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.
i watched both videos and i can't make the connection to the lyrics as a coinciding message. Even if i force it, only a handful of words make sense. Therefore, i think the song is just a catalyst to promote the video. i suspect that the video wasn't initially shot for the purposes of this song, but later edited to run with it after the song found success on the radio. i think both have a profound message, but are parallel themes. And i think that's great. it's a considerable side-step from industry pop standards in-that a band is doing something very unorthodox but still creating a buzz. We all expect a video to lend some meaning to the song and vice-versa, but i think Rise Against wanted to draw attention to a personal vendetta of theirs without promoting their music as political or activist. (cuz we all know, once a band is labeled “political” or “activist” their music loosing it’s meaning as art and is just seen as more propaganda to swallow. Just look at U2 or SOAD. There’s a very thin line between expressing and promoting yourself. Cross it and your career is pretty much hosed.) That being said i think Angelight pretty much worked the lyrics out right. Once you stop trying to force it, the lyrics are pretty palpable.