"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've got a habit of looking up at the sky, to stay rooted
cuz souls don't die, I don't think,
they all just get diluted (it's true and)
and everyone is looking round
asking “what am I supposed to do with
all this information? –
just give me back my youth.'
baby, your eyes are cold and jaded
come with me, and live unpremeditated
and even though you might lose control of what you meant to try to be
it's only vanity
you blame sinners and cigarettes
but you'd better just get over all that
cuz that TV's been real busy making subtlety extinct
were we wiser, maybe if we knew
what starts the souring of a view
then we wouldn't all drink so much
to relax away the kinks
baby, this party makes me feel jaded
so lonely and premeditated
and even though we might lose control of what we meant to try to be
it's only vanity
only vanity
it's not what you mean
or how you dream
about the life you'd like to lead
that's all forgotten, for the way it seems
lookin out on a summer's day
is better when it's on the way
than in retrospect, when your intellect
makes sure that you've forgotten
those side affects we can't prevent
like where april through august went
and how we ripened, and were left
here bruised and cold and rotten
baby, slide on into bed; you've made it
walk in sleep, and the risk is eradicated
now you know, you won't lose control of what you meant to try to be
and it's only vanity
it's only vanity
cuz souls don't die, I don't think,
they all just get diluted (it's true and)
and everyone is looking round
asking “what am I supposed to do with
all this information? –
just give me back my youth.'
baby, your eyes are cold and jaded
come with me, and live unpremeditated
and even though you might lose control of what you meant to try to be
it's only vanity
you blame sinners and cigarettes
but you'd better just get over all that
cuz that TV's been real busy making subtlety extinct
were we wiser, maybe if we knew
what starts the souring of a view
then we wouldn't all drink so much
to relax away the kinks
baby, this party makes me feel jaded
so lonely and premeditated
and even though we might lose control of what we meant to try to be
it's only vanity
only vanity
it's not what you mean
or how you dream
about the life you'd like to lead
that's all forgotten, for the way it seems
lookin out on a summer's day
is better when it's on the way
than in retrospect, when your intellect
makes sure that you've forgotten
those side affects we can't prevent
like where april through august went
and how we ripened, and were left
here bruised and cold and rotten
baby, slide on into bed; you've made it
walk in sleep, and the risk is eradicated
now you know, you won't lose control of what you meant to try to be
and it's only vanity
it's only vanity
Lyrics submitted by Liiindseyyy
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Dusty Springfield
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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:
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“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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
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.