"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.
Her eyes could have only been born of this ocean
Delph blue, longing and weepy they want me so much to want you
All wrapped up beside you and winded, After you've taken me
My mind's roaming free, dozing dazy drifting out this evening
With a verse so sweetly sung
Into a world we've longed to come
But somehow we are not one
And all her lavender meadows so fragrant and beautiful
And at your dining room table the sun falls on my face so warm
And all the turbulent highways I've taken to get here
To you in this home, in this moment, for that I am grateful
Though this house feels like an old lost song
That calls for me to play along
Somehow I don't belong
The night lit by moon
The day sun
Oh baby I'm wondering
how come?
The light is nearly gone
Her soul could have only been born of a wild oak
So far reaching and swaying and free but stands stoically alone
When the skies come apart she leans over so helpless and cowering
Until the storms come to cease and somehow she's the only one standing
And though we've grown so close my love
And though these nights we've spent so many of
A part of me is numb
Her eyes look up to me, so open and true
Our window's in perfect clear view
But somehow I can't see through
Delph blue, longing and weepy they want me so much to want you
All wrapped up beside you and winded, After you've taken me
My mind's roaming free, dozing dazy drifting out this evening
With a verse so sweetly sung
Into a world we've longed to come
But somehow we are not one
And all her lavender meadows so fragrant and beautiful
And at your dining room table the sun falls on my face so warm
And all the turbulent highways I've taken to get here
To you in this home, in this moment, for that I am grateful
Though this house feels like an old lost song
That calls for me to play along
Somehow I don't belong
The night lit by moon
The day sun
Oh baby I'm wondering
how come?
The light is nearly gone
Her soul could have only been born of a wild oak
So far reaching and swaying and free but stands stoically alone
When the skies come apart she leans over so helpless and cowering
Until the storms come to cease and somehow she's the only one standing
And though we've grown so close my love
And though these nights we've spent so many of
A part of me is numb
Her eyes look up to me, so open and true
Our window's in perfect clear view
But somehow I can't see through
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
A girl loves him in the most genuine way; a potentially beautiful relationship that could clense so many things, but yet the voice in this song still has some strange doubts and uncertainties that overpower everything.