"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 I stand, helpless and left for dead
Close your eyes, so many days go by
Easy to find what's wrong
Harder to find what's right
I believe in you, I can show you that
I can see right through all your empty lies
I won't stay long, in this world so wrong
Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight
Don't you dare look at him in the eye
As we dance with the devil tonight
Trembling, crawling across my skin
Feeling your cold dead eyes
Stealing the life of mine
I believe in you, I can show you that
I can see right through all your empty lies
I won't last long, in this world so wrong
Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight
Don't you dare look at him in the eye
As we dance with the devil tonight
Hold on, hold on
Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight
Don't you dare look at him in the eye
As we dance with the devil tonight
Hold on, hold on
Goodbye
Close your eyes, so many days go by
Easy to find what's wrong
Harder to find what's right
I believe in you, I can show you that
I can see right through all your empty lies
I won't stay long, in this world so wrong
Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight
Don't you dare look at him in the eye
As we dance with the devil tonight
Trembling, crawling across my skin
Feeling your cold dead eyes
Stealing the life of mine
I believe in you, I can show you that
I can see right through all your empty lies
I won't last long, in this world so wrong
Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight
Don't you dare look at him in the eye
As we dance with the devil tonight
Hold on, hold on
Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight
Don't you dare look at him in the eye
As we dance with the devil tonight
Hold on, hold on
Goodbye
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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.
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.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
The way I see it, it's the point where you're standing on the verge of an abyss inside you, in a world where you don't belong. I too see it as talking to a girl, cause it fits me that way best, but it can be seen as another person, a friend maybe, or even talking to himself. He says he believes in "you" -that person or himself - in what's beneath, in the truth, but he's too weak to stay on top and face it, but he sinks under, feeding "cold dead eyes" of a lost love, and in the process, stealing his life and energy away. Dancing with the devil, is the process of facing your self, evading self-destruction, evading the part of you that feels guilty and wants to destroy everything, The lonely people should know what I'm talking about. Every lone individual tends to self-destruct in such moments, and the dance with the devil, is the dance with your fear, your phobia. In this case it could also be something wrong in the relationship between him and "her", and it could be a process of facing those mistakes the last time, before they separate. It's about saying goodbye to "her" or to himself (could be a part of himself, not necessarily suicide, could be "killing what aches"). But he says "don't you dare look at him in the eye", cause if you look the devil into the eye, you can easily be misslead by your own weaknesses, and it yet again will lead to self-destruction. He wants to settle things for one last time, to face the fear, and then leave that "world", where he no longer feels safe but "helpless and left for dead", and so he decides to lay his heart out, and then for the last time, say goodbye. That's at least the way I see it.