"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.
Alarming to the senses
As the scent of latex
And blinding white lights greet me
Withered, weak, and weary
His bones are bare and brittle
Can't rid this taste of surgery
Of surgery, accusing me
Of perjury, like surgery correcting me
I'm bouncing in and out of my body
As my eyes roll in rhythm
And they wish to focus
But they can't bear to see
Our eyes are paralyzed
As your legs are canonized
With the water from these seas
To own a heart that's half of yours
These bones are mere accessories
Well these bones are mere accessories
The doctor says he heard me
Stutter as I muttered
A startling repetitious phrase
And under anesthesia
I told him over and over again
This body's yours to keep
And though he promised me
He said he'd do as I please
But I stand before you
Upon these same selfish feet
I'm bouncing in and out of my body
As my eyes roll in rhythm
And they wish to focus
But they can't bear to see
Our eyes are paralyzed
As your legs are canonized
With the water from these seas
To own a heart that's half of yours
These bones are mere accessories
His neck, is shattered by the tides
The ocean prays for his demise
But I swear to you
I watched his heart pump blood into those veins
Throwing punches at ocean waves
And as the tides retreat
I see the smile you see today
To own a heart that's half of yours
These bones are mere accessories
Our eyes are paralyzed
As your legs are canonized
With the water from these seas
To own a heart that's half of yours, yours
These bones are mere accessories
Throwing punches at ocean waves
As the scent of latex
And blinding white lights greet me
Withered, weak, and weary
His bones are bare and brittle
Can't rid this taste of surgery
Of surgery, accusing me
Of perjury, like surgery correcting me
I'm bouncing in and out of my body
As my eyes roll in rhythm
And they wish to focus
But they can't bear to see
Our eyes are paralyzed
As your legs are canonized
With the water from these seas
To own a heart that's half of yours
These bones are mere accessories
Well these bones are mere accessories
The doctor says he heard me
Stutter as I muttered
A startling repetitious phrase
And under anesthesia
I told him over and over again
This body's yours to keep
And though he promised me
He said he'd do as I please
But I stand before you
Upon these same selfish feet
I'm bouncing in and out of my body
As my eyes roll in rhythm
And they wish to focus
But they can't bear to see
Our eyes are paralyzed
As your legs are canonized
With the water from these seas
To own a heart that's half of yours
These bones are mere accessories
His neck, is shattered by the tides
The ocean prays for his demise
But I swear to you
I watched his heart pump blood into those veins
Throwing punches at ocean waves
And as the tides retreat
I see the smile you see today
To own a heart that's half of yours
These bones are mere accessories
Our eyes are paralyzed
As your legs are canonized
With the water from these seas
To own a heart that's half of yours, yours
These bones are mere accessories
Throwing punches at ocean waves
Lyrics submitted by darlingniki
The Gift Of Paralysis Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © THIS ISN'T MUSIC, DYNAMITE MONEY SONGS
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental 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.
Ouspensky -- explain what you mean by that?
Anyway, the meaning of this song is pretty obvious. I love this band. I love this song.