"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.
OK hey I'm going outside
You can put the plate back on the shelf
And it's cold though the snow isn't falling
The neighbor can speak for itself
And the cold hard look in your eyes
Is more than a line in the sand
When the truth gets hard to imagine
The hours get harder to stand
He's a seasick terminal passenger
Singing this song to himself
'Till the store bought soul on his skeleton
Sinks into somebody else
He's a see saw
Calm in the storm
A hurricane after the war
When he drinks all blood you can offer
He still wants more
Landing planes
And rumbling trains
Are shaking the ground in our town again
Thought it twice
And kicking the ice
I got turned back around and singing
Everything's gonna be fine
I'm sure that we'll both be
OK hey I'm backing outside
Just put the plate back on the shelf
And it's cold though the snow isn't falling
The temperature speaks for itself
It's a moonlit reason to quit
And nobody answers the phone
But if there's still blood left in your body
I'll come back home
You can put the plate back on the shelf
And it's cold though the snow isn't falling
The neighbor can speak for itself
And the cold hard look in your eyes
Is more than a line in the sand
When the truth gets hard to imagine
The hours get harder to stand
He's a seasick terminal passenger
Singing this song to himself
'Till the store bought soul on his skeleton
Sinks into somebody else
He's a see saw
Calm in the storm
A hurricane after the war
When he drinks all blood you can offer
He still wants more
Landing planes
And rumbling trains
Are shaking the ground in our town again
Thought it twice
And kicking the ice
I got turned back around and singing
Everything's gonna be fine
I'm sure that we'll both be
OK hey I'm backing outside
Just put the plate back on the shelf
And it's cold though the snow isn't falling
The temperature speaks for itself
It's a moonlit reason to quit
And nobody answers the phone
But if there's still blood left in your body
I'll come back home
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
The general feeling in this one is about leaving somebody behind, things having gone cold in the relationship.