"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.
I wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
I wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
へいらっしゃい! おまちどうさま
喧騒まみれ この街の演奏
黙ったまま一度ついておいで
世界中魅了するほどに豪華な
Japan (what?) 一番 (what?)
Jump around さぁ うちらの出番
Teriyaki Boyz in the place to be
見せてやる (はい!) オリジナル V.I.P (はい!)
Many many diamonds danglin'
Bag full of money we stranglin'
Hate me, fry me, bake me, try me
All the above 'cause you can't get in
I don't want no プロブレム (ah)
Because me プロフェッショナル (ah)
Make you, shake your ケツ thank you
Haters take it パーソナル
Like a 金田 対 鉄雄 Neo Tokyo 滅亡?
無くなっちまう前に 熱を発散しきっちまおうぜ let's go 熱望
ズヒルギロッポン ラボからエスコート「エエ!? スゴイ」
26号じゃない NIGO
入力ソルの座標ピンポイント
I wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
ハイ! ワタシ テリヤキボーイズ
「あっ」という間吹き飛ばすノイズ
邁進してます んでっゲとる
ペンの数も増えてます
ベーシックはサプライズで
マジ毎日が危ないぜ!
忍者風 賢者風だけど芸者
BAPEの惑星からの使者
You should see me in the parking lot (ah)
7-11 is the spot (ah)
Bikes with wings and shiny things
And lions, tigers, bears, oh my ride
We're Furious and Fast
Supersonic like J.J. Fad and
We ride 'til the wheels are flat
Can't beat that with a baseball bat (uh)
Like a 公安九課 トグサ
マテバ 良い是非即採用
インターセプターして国際的犯罪はバンザイ
ホラ hands up
ファレルが Bomb落とすと
踊りだす今夜の 4Boyz
From ファーイーストコースト
どうささやく ワタシのゴーストは?
I wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Yeah, Japan 毎日ドキドキです
ヒートアイランド "とびとび"で
萌える容姿で「ぼちぼちね」
手招きで誘う「こっちこっちへ」
ヒートアップで踊りそう
町中すべってのりこむ
めっちゃ変わり者だってシャッフル
ごちゃごちゃの Fast and Furious!
It's gotta be the shoes
It's gotta be the furs
That's why ladies choose me
All up in the news 'cause we so cute
That's why we so huge
Harajuku girls know how I フィール
They respect, I keeps it リアル
Not a China-man 'cause I ain't from China, man
I am Japan man
(私は Tokyo好き)
You see me go coming out of the black Benz SLR (私の車すてき)
(あなたも Tokyo好き) I wonder where he get that kind of money?
Don't worry about it, let's go (あなたの車すてき)
I wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
I wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
へいらっしゃい! おまちどうさま
喧騒まみれ この街の演奏
黙ったまま一度ついておいで
世界中魅了するほどに豪華な
Japan (what?) 一番 (what?)
Jump around さぁ うちらの出番
Teriyaki Boyz in the place to be
見せてやる (はい!) オリジナル V.I.P (はい!)
Many many diamonds danglin'
Bag full of money we stranglin'
Hate me, fry me, bake me, try me
All the above 'cause you can't get in
I don't want no プロブレム (ah)
Because me プロフェッショナル (ah)
Make you, shake your ケツ thank you
Haters take it パーソナル
Like a 金田 対 鉄雄 Neo Tokyo 滅亡?
無くなっちまう前に 熱を発散しきっちまおうぜ let's go 熱望
ズヒルギロッポン ラボからエスコート「エエ!? スゴイ」
26号じゃない NIGO
入力ソルの座標ピンポイント
I wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
ハイ! ワタシ テリヤキボーイズ
「あっ」という間吹き飛ばすノイズ
邁進してます んでっゲとる
ペンの数も増えてます
ベーシックはサプライズで
マジ毎日が危ないぜ!
忍者風 賢者風だけど芸者
BAPEの惑星からの使者
You should see me in the parking lot (ah)
7-11 is the spot (ah)
Bikes with wings and shiny things
And lions, tigers, bears, oh my ride
We're Furious and Fast
Supersonic like J.J. Fad and
We ride 'til the wheels are flat
Can't beat that with a baseball bat (uh)
Like a 公安九課 トグサ
マテバ 良い是非即採用
インターセプターして国際的犯罪はバンザイ
ホラ hands up
ファレルが Bomb落とすと
踊りだす今夜の 4Boyz
From ファーイーストコースト
どうささやく ワタシのゴーストは?
I wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Yeah, Japan 毎日ドキドキです
ヒートアイランド "とびとび"で
萌える容姿で「ぼちぼちね」
手招きで誘う「こっちこっちへ」
ヒートアップで踊りそう
町中すべってのりこむ
めっちゃ変わり者だってシャッフル
ごちゃごちゃの Fast and Furious!
It's gotta be the shoes
It's gotta be the furs
That's why ladies choose me
All up in the news 'cause we so cute
That's why we so huge
Harajuku girls know how I フィール
They respect, I keeps it リアル
Not a China-man 'cause I ain't from China, man
I am Japan man
(私は Tokyo好き)
You see me go coming out of the black Benz SLR (私の車すてき)
(あなたも Tokyo好き) I wonder where he get that kind of money?
Don't worry about it, let's go (あなたの車すてき)
I wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Wonder if you know
How they live in Tokyo (はい)
If you seen it, then you mean it
Then you know you have to go
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Fast and Furious! (キタ) (drift, drift, drift)
Lyrics submitted by 2000CelicaGT
Tokyo Drift (Fast & Furious) Lyrics as written by Keisuke Ogiwara Ryo-z
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
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”
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Hell No! I actually loved that movie... maybe cause of my undying love for Japan and my unhealthy fetish for NFS Underground-esque cars...