"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.
You know we back, right?
Clear the streets out
Come on with it, ha-ha, Star Trak
Niggas is haters, I'm doin' deals like the majors
Ice Cream sneakers, I signed my first skater
So you can pay three and buy yourself some Bapestas
Bulletproof under t-shirts because they hate us
Do like Snoop say step your game up
Double-decker boat nigga, Meditterane up
D-Class action cuts, tuck your chain up
Liberace fingers, niggas hit Lorraine up
Just last week, I was out in Aspen
Me and Puff hoppin' off the plane, both us laughin'
A week before that, I was out in Italy
Italian heart throbs could not get rid of me
Up in Donatella's crib, me and like ten hoes
Call from the cell phone, give me that Enzo
I know what your thinkin' yeah me too
Okay, everybody meet Mr. Me Too
Been two years, like I was paddy wagon cruisin'
The streets was yours, you're dunce cappin' and kazooin'
I was just assumin' you'd keep the coke movin'
But I got one question, fuck y'all been doin'?
Pyrex stirs turned into Cavalli furs
The full length cat, when I wave, the kitty purs
All my niggas caked up, sellin' gray and beige dust
Had that money right or end up in the trunk taped up
We don't chase and duck, we only raise the bucks
Peel money rolls 'til our thumbs get the paper cuts
Chill retardo, South Beach Gallardo
Teals started up, go brr like it's Nardo
Women, if you love me, please let me know
Tie rags around your neck and learn the sets we throw
These are the days of our lives and I'm sorry to the fans
But the crackers weren't playin' fair at Jive
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay we get it, yep, yeah you too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay, everybody meet Mr. Me Too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay we get it, yep, yeah you too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay, everybody meet Mr. Me Too
I know what you thinkin' why I call you Me Too?
'Cause everythin' I say, I got you sayin' me too
I say I got a Benz, so you said me too
You hangin' out the window so they can see you
But you ain't hangin' out the window
When you in that G2 or that G3 or G4 like we do
Star Trak, Clipse, Malice, come on
Wanna know the time? Better clock us
Niggas bite the style from the shoes to the watches
We cloud hoppers, tailored suits like we mobsters
Break down keys into dimes and sell them like Gobstoppers
Who gon' stop us
Not a goddamn one of you
Mean with the Re-Up, nigga, we street tumblers
Ivory white, yeah that's the same color
Of the Azure nigga, best believe it's the Mulliner
Take no prisoners, rap niggas are whisperers
Choke on your own spit just as soon as you mention us
Champagne corks, kicks by Louis sports and
Keep my hoes in Pucc' and Charles Jourdan
Cop it, chrome it, touch-screen component
Mink on the floor, make you hot, don't it?
You don't wanna know what the fuck I spent on it
Tomorrow ain't promised so we live for the moment
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay, we get it, yep, yeah, you too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay, everybody meet Mr. Me Too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay we get it, yep, yeah, you too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay, everybody meet Mr. Me Too
Clear the streets out
Come on with it, ha-ha, Star Trak
Niggas is haters, I'm doin' deals like the majors
Ice Cream sneakers, I signed my first skater
So you can pay three and buy yourself some Bapestas
Bulletproof under t-shirts because they hate us
Do like Snoop say step your game up
Double-decker boat nigga, Meditterane up
D-Class action cuts, tuck your chain up
Liberace fingers, niggas hit Lorraine up
Just last week, I was out in Aspen
Me and Puff hoppin' off the plane, both us laughin'
A week before that, I was out in Italy
Italian heart throbs could not get rid of me
Up in Donatella's crib, me and like ten hoes
Call from the cell phone, give me that Enzo
I know what your thinkin' yeah me too
Okay, everybody meet Mr. Me Too
Been two years, like I was paddy wagon cruisin'
The streets was yours, you're dunce cappin' and kazooin'
I was just assumin' you'd keep the coke movin'
But I got one question, fuck y'all been doin'?
Pyrex stirs turned into Cavalli furs
The full length cat, when I wave, the kitty purs
All my niggas caked up, sellin' gray and beige dust
Had that money right or end up in the trunk taped up
We don't chase and duck, we only raise the bucks
Peel money rolls 'til our thumbs get the paper cuts
Chill retardo, South Beach Gallardo
Teals started up, go brr like it's Nardo
Women, if you love me, please let me know
Tie rags around your neck and learn the sets we throw
These are the days of our lives and I'm sorry to the fans
But the crackers weren't playin' fair at Jive
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay we get it, yep, yeah you too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay, everybody meet Mr. Me Too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay we get it, yep, yeah you too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay, everybody meet Mr. Me Too
I know what you thinkin' why I call you Me Too?
'Cause everythin' I say, I got you sayin' me too
I say I got a Benz, so you said me too
You hangin' out the window so they can see you
But you ain't hangin' out the window
When you in that G2 or that G3 or G4 like we do
Star Trak, Clipse, Malice, come on
Wanna know the time? Better clock us
Niggas bite the style from the shoes to the watches
We cloud hoppers, tailored suits like we mobsters
Break down keys into dimes and sell them like Gobstoppers
Who gon' stop us
Not a goddamn one of you
Mean with the Re-Up, nigga, we street tumblers
Ivory white, yeah that's the same color
Of the Azure nigga, best believe it's the Mulliner
Take no prisoners, rap niggas are whisperers
Choke on your own spit just as soon as you mention us
Champagne corks, kicks by Louis sports and
Keep my hoes in Pucc' and Charles Jourdan
Cop it, chrome it, touch-screen component
Mink on the floor, make you hot, don't it?
You don't wanna know what the fuck I spent on it
Tomorrow ain't promised so we live for the moment
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay, we get it, yep, yeah, you too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay, everybody meet Mr. Me Too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay we get it, yep, yeah, you too
I know, I know, yep, yeah, you too
Okay, everybody meet Mr. Me Too
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
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.
"A week before that, I was out in Italy Attire heart throbs could not get rid of me"
Shouldn't it be italian?