"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.
Suicide is in my blood
It always was
but it doesn't evaporate in the light any more
And this world is no place
For a mind or a thought
No its not
Well thats been said before
But space and the woods still know who I am
And I know they don't owe me anything
Not after what I've done
Put on my radiation suit and slip away
I'm on the run from what I've become
And this life (like suicide)
Runs at a lot of different speeds
And I know they don't owe me anything
Not after what I've done
Late on a Monday night
I'm on the grapevine
Beating around the bush
Adds to the bassline
Thinking about the time
When I was dancing slow
And out of control
Im shit hot so say what you think about me
Im not gonna cry cos i dont care
Im shit hot so say what you think about me
Im not gonna cry cos I, I ,I
I've done nothing
I've done nothing
But they forgive anything
Like how I don't stop you
Breaking my arms
And chopping me down
So I fit in your laptop
I've done nothing
It always was
but it doesn't evaporate in the light any more
And this world is no place
For a mind or a thought
No its not
Well thats been said before
But space and the woods still know who I am
And I know they don't owe me anything
Not after what I've done
Put on my radiation suit and slip away
I'm on the run from what I've become
And this life (like suicide)
Runs at a lot of different speeds
And I know they don't owe me anything
Not after what I've done
Late on a Monday night
I'm on the grapevine
Beating around the bush
Adds to the bassline
Thinking about the time
When I was dancing slow
And out of control
Im shit hot so say what you think about me
Im not gonna cry cos i dont care
Im shit hot so say what you think about me
Im not gonna cry cos I, I ,I
I've done nothing
I've done nothing
But they forgive anything
Like how I don't stop you
Breaking my arms
And chopping me down
So I fit in your laptop
I've done nothing
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
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.
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.
"I've done nothing but they forgive anything like how I don't stop you breaking my arms and chopping chopping me down so I fit in your laptop"
Anyone who have an idea about what these lines are about? Can't figure it out...
well, first of all, "i've done nothing" is something he's telling himself. it isn't true, and space and the woods still know what he's done. "they forgive anything" shows that he does feel the guilt weighing in, hence the thoughts of suicide, but his friends and fellow bandmates pretend with him that he's done nothing, even though he hasn't stopped someone (Erol Alkan? the music industry? something darker?) from breaking him down and repackaging him into these songs. he's trying not to think, not to feel, not to acknowledge what he's doing -- "on the run from what I've become" -- but space and the woods still know.<br /> does that help?