"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.
In the dark, come out and play
We are its child-, here to stay
Running through, hungry for stray
No invitat-, take me away
I'm not cruel, still what you see
Club to club, city with me
Hungry for life, -out your pity
I don't want, you give it
Still can't say she won't start up
Still can't say she won't start up a fight
You go the city
'Cause in the city of life she can't, she can't wait
In the dark, killer await
To kill a life, life you make
You do another, death can live
Just keep on dan-, movie you're in (I'm not cruel)
Smell of your sweat, lures me in
Your heart-, things to me
Running feet, through my blood
My ghost inside you soon will be
Still can't say she won't start up
Still can't say she won't start up a fight
You go city
'Cause in the city of life she can't, she can't wait
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
I don't want sex, but you give it
Still can't say she won't start up
Still can't say she won't start up a fight
You go city
'Cause in the city of life she can't, she can't wait
Still can't say she won't start up
Still can't say she won't start up a fight
You go city
'Cause in the city of life she can't, she can't wait
Now it's over, you've taken your life
Dark grows thin and left to hide
I don't regret it, but it's sad anyway
Now we're both dead and so scared of the black
This life of games and diligent trust
It's the things we do and the things we must
I'm now tired of being cussed
So go sleep forever end to dust
We are its child-, here to stay
Running through, hungry for stray
No invitat-, take me away
I'm not cruel, still what you see
Club to club, city with me
Hungry for life, -out your pity
I don't want, you give it
Still can't say she won't start up
Still can't say she won't start up a fight
You go the city
'Cause in the city of life she can't, she can't wait
In the dark, killer await
To kill a life, life you make
You do another, death can live
Just keep on dan-, movie you're in (I'm not cruel)
Smell of your sweat, lures me in
Your heart-, things to me
Running feet, through my blood
My ghost inside you soon will be
Still can't say she won't start up
Still can't say she won't start up a fight
You go city
'Cause in the city of life she can't, she can't wait
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
Hungry for strays, hungry for life, no invitat- your pity
I don't want sex, but you give it
Still can't say she won't start up
Still can't say she won't start up a fight
You go city
'Cause in the city of life she can't, she can't wait
Still can't say she won't start up
Still can't say she won't start up a fight
You go city
'Cause in the city of life she can't, she can't wait
Now it's over, you've taken your life
Dark grows thin and left to hide
I don't regret it, but it's sad anyway
Now we're both dead and so scared of the black
This life of games and diligent trust
It's the things we do and the things we must
I'm now tired of being cussed
So go sleep forever end to dust
Lyrics submitted by onwaardsailboat, edited by jittery101
Vanished Lyrics as written by Nicholas Routledge Tomek Archer
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Holiday
Bee Gees
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
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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.
Punchline
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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.
Head > Heels
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“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I personally think that this song possibly has several meanings, but I think it's about prostitution or bad influences on young men and women.
The first verse is probably about a young man or teenager who is lurking the streets for a night on the town and looking for a good time. (going clubbing) He probably encounters a promiscuous women or a prostitute. This is her life, it's better than death, but its still considered something that is the scum of the earth. He has sex with her, doesn't regret it, and either she dies by suicide or feels as if she is dying on the inside because of her habits.
I don't know, that's what I get out of it.
I also find it awkward and contradicting that the song is so mellow and happy sounding when it can possibly be about such a negative, sad subject. But either way, I love it, it just sounds awesome and soothing! :D