"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.
im not the type to shout
i wrote my name on the bathroom wall
the lunch lady had a heart attack
i nearly drown in a jr pool
angel, you got me high
and i dont know why
your blue jeans
are all i see
when i close my eyes
i can't believe you talk to me
pinch me im dreaming
i fell asleep, i fell asleep
i dont stand out in a crows
sometimes i barely feel i'm here at all
the neighbors dad got a cadillac
maybe i'll wear a dress to school
angel, you got me high
and i dont know why
your blue jeans
are all i see
when i close my eyes
i can't believe you talk to me
pinch me im dreaming
i fell asleep, i fell asleep
i wrote my name on the bathroom wall
the lunch lady had a heart attack
i nearly drown in a jr pool
angel, you got me high
and i dont know why
your blue jeans
are all i see
when i close my eyes
i can't believe you talk to me
pinch me im dreaming
i fell asleep, i fell asleep
i dont stand out in a crows
sometimes i barely feel i'm here at all
the neighbors dad got a cadillac
maybe i'll wear a dress to school
angel, you got me high
and i dont know why
your blue jeans
are all i see
when i close my eyes
i can't believe you talk to me
pinch me im dreaming
i fell asleep, i fell asleep
Lyrics submitted by Merks
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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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.
I get a general sense of a high school-esque feeling from the lyrics. I think that Andrews is singing about an infatuation he has with a girl. There isn't any indication that this is a friendship/relationship or just an acquintance, but the feelings are there regardless.
'i can't believe you talk to me pinch me im dreaming i fell asleep, i fell asleep' I can picture this unnoticed sixteen-year old boy dreaming about a blue jeaned girl who has no idea he exists. Some of the terminology is used in the song also contributes to my high school image. The lunch lady reference, written name of bathroom wall, neighbor's new car etc. The loneliness references are strung through out the entire song. Not standing out in a crowd, melting away into oblivion. Writing his own name on the wall to reaffirm, if only to himself, his own tangiable existence. The 'I fell asleep' lyrics make me think that what he feels for this person is one sided and unknown to the other person. He lives in a world where he is ultimately obsolete and dreams of making more of a statement, like wearing a dress to school. Anything to get a reaction, to prove to others that he is alive.
This is a very heartfelt stirring song...so good!