"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.
Oh, oh
If this town is dirty, honey even for a girl like you
Where the game is let's play fake
And the players are the religious and the scoundrels
One in the same, oh, what a shame, what an absolutely terrible shame
There are liars outside your window
There are liars outside your window
Singing syncopated rhythms drumming in your ear
And they're all you ever, all you ever, ever hear
Your apathy says blame me for this
Uh huh, yeah, uh huh, yeah
Apathy says blame me for this
Oh, oh
Day two is quite the same
In fact just change the name, oh, oh, let's change face
And the players are the religious and the scoundrels
Meet in the shady place today, what a terrible shame
There are liars outside your window
There are liars outside your window
Singing syncopated rhythms drumming in your ear
And they're all you ever, all you ever, ever hear
Your apathy says blame me for this
Uh huh, yeah, uh huh, yeah
Apathy says blame me for this
You're home now, curled up with your chin to your knee
Does it hurt to breathe? Just don't go to sleep
Loose lips, wide hips, you don't have to beg
Each night a different man in your bed
But here's the question, does that man need you?
Loose lips, wide hips, you don't have to beg
Each night a different man in your bed
And he knows it, and he knows he doesn't need you
There are liars outside your window
Singing syncopated rhythms drumming in your ear
And they're all you ever, all you ever, ever hear
Your apathy says blame me for this
Uh huh, yeah, uh huh, yeah
Apathy says blame me for this
There are liars outside your window
There are liars outside your window-dow
Liars outside your window-dow
Liars outside your window-dow
If this town is dirty, honey even for a girl like you
Where the game is let's play fake
And the players are the religious and the scoundrels
One in the same, oh, what a shame, what an absolutely terrible shame
There are liars outside your window
There are liars outside your window
Singing syncopated rhythms drumming in your ear
And they're all you ever, all you ever, ever hear
Your apathy says blame me for this
Uh huh, yeah, uh huh, yeah
Apathy says blame me for this
Oh, oh
Day two is quite the same
In fact just change the name, oh, oh, let's change face
And the players are the religious and the scoundrels
Meet in the shady place today, what a terrible shame
There are liars outside your window
There are liars outside your window
Singing syncopated rhythms drumming in your ear
And they're all you ever, all you ever, ever hear
Your apathy says blame me for this
Uh huh, yeah, uh huh, yeah
Apathy says blame me for this
You're home now, curled up with your chin to your knee
Does it hurt to breathe? Just don't go to sleep
Loose lips, wide hips, you don't have to beg
Each night a different man in your bed
But here's the question, does that man need you?
Loose lips, wide hips, you don't have to beg
Each night a different man in your bed
And he knows it, and he knows he doesn't need you
There are liars outside your window
Singing syncopated rhythms drumming in your ear
And they're all you ever, all you ever, ever hear
Your apathy says blame me for this
Uh huh, yeah, uh huh, yeah
Apathy says blame me for this
There are liars outside your window
There are liars outside your window-dow
Liars outside your window-dow
Liars outside your window-dow
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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”
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“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.
to paradiso: I believe petraluvsmusic means that ivoryline believes in a personal relationship with God versus the conventions of participating in a certain religion, not the relationships that the character in their song is having.