"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.
So you think you're having good times
With the boy that you just met
Kicking sand from beach to beach
Your clothes are soaking wet
But if you look around and see
A shadow on the run (on the run)
Don't be too upset because it's just a paper sun
Ah paper sun, ah paper sun
In the room where you've been sleeping
All our clothes are thrown about
Cigarettes burn window sills
Your meter's all run out
But there again it's nothing
You just split when day is done (day is gone)
Hitching lifts to nowhere, hung up on the paper sun
Ah paper sun, ah paper sun
Standing in the cool of my room
Fresh cut flowers give me sweet perfume (too much sun will burn)
Too much sun will burn (too much sun will burn)
Too much sun will burn
When you're feeling tired and lonely
You see people going home
You can't make the train fare
Or the sixpence for the phone
And icicles you're crying
Down your cheek have just begun
Don't be sad, good times are had
Beneath the paper sun
Ah paper sun, ah paper sun
Daylight breaks while you sleep on the sand
A seagull is stealing the ring from your hand
The boy who had given you so much fun
Has left you so cold in the paper sun
In the paper sun, in the paper sun, in the paper sun, in the paper sun
With the boy that you just met
Kicking sand from beach to beach
Your clothes are soaking wet
But if you look around and see
A shadow on the run (on the run)
Don't be too upset because it's just a paper sun
Ah paper sun, ah paper sun
In the room where you've been sleeping
All our clothes are thrown about
Cigarettes burn window sills
Your meter's all run out
But there again it's nothing
You just split when day is done (day is gone)
Hitching lifts to nowhere, hung up on the paper sun
Ah paper sun, ah paper sun
Standing in the cool of my room
Fresh cut flowers give me sweet perfume (too much sun will burn)
Too much sun will burn (too much sun will burn)
Too much sun will burn
When you're feeling tired and lonely
You see people going home
You can't make the train fare
Or the sixpence for the phone
And icicles you're crying
Down your cheek have just begun
Don't be sad, good times are had
Beneath the paper sun
Ah paper sun, ah paper sun
Daylight breaks while you sleep on the sand
A seagull is stealing the ring from your hand
The boy who had given you so much fun
Has left you so cold in the paper sun
In the paper sun, in the paper sun, in the paper sun, in the paper sun
Lyrics submitted by T_D_Phoenix, edited by palladin69, pacealot
Paper Sun Lyrics as written by Steve Winwood Jim Capaldi
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The meaning of paper sun is, One mustn't trick themselves into believing something is true when it is not, and everyone must face reality even though you may crash hard when you face your monster. The real sun burns almost forever but a paper sun is temporary and can not sustain keeping us feeling warm and safe, it's just a paper sun that can leave you feeling cold when the fire goes out, when everything you expected is gone.