"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 think it's good to be a little
It must be good to be a little
Scared
I wonder what it must be like
To be on fire
And so hot
On fire
It must be good to be a little
Scared
I wonder what it must be like
To be on fire
And so hot
On fire
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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/
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
even though he MORE THAN LIKELY doesn/t believe in hell, like most of us, because we've been indoctrinated since we could hear, we're a little scared of hellfire.
to me the point of the song seems to be panda trying to get the point across that we're all, at some point, horrible people.
i prefer to interpret this literally, as i do a lot of panda bear's songs. it's good to be a little scared sometimes, and it's really an interesting thing to wonder about. i've worked with ceramics for years, and whenever i watch the fire burning out of a kiln, i wonder, "what must it be like to be that hot?"
it could also be interpreted from the angle of death and cremation. the song certainly ends on an ominous enough note.
to me this is the most hypnotic song on the album. i need a damn good pair of headphones to really get into this...
sennheiser hd 280
I have the same headphones, they go so well with this song
I've always thought of it as the panda bear search for 'God'. The delicious form, however, which comes in what size? Let's listen and find out...
It could be about falling in love, too.
I picture a lone astronaut floating through dark space.
oh that would suck....yeah. i think.
The Search For Delicious is an AMAZING book by Natalie Babbit. Just that title makes me happy.
Sounds just like an astronaut floating lost in space as debris drifts by, giving a sense of wonder and maybe fear. It could have to do with the book of the same name. I'm lost on meaning, just like the astronaut tiding through space, but the little bits that drift by create an atmosphere that fills the space left empty by meaning. Maybe we're supposed to find out own definition of what "Search for Delicious" means.