"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.
Every buster in Rome is staring at me
I wanna stop hurting their ears but
I’m afraid of what silence could bring
I got a head full of melodies
I got sounds coming out of my mouth
But none of these melodies I can call mine
And I can’t sing aloud
And I would do most anything
To write something that sounds like it’s mine
But I just keep on singing
The melodies I have in my mind
And I-I’m starting to think I’d better
Put my piano down
In some heated place
And forget…
And it does hurt me
Sure you don’t wanna feel like I feel
Do you wanna know, know, how much it hurts me
Cause it feels so unreal
And it does hurt me
Sure you don’t wanna feel like I feel
Do you wanna know, know, how much it hurts me
And I hate days like these cause they
Make me feel like I can’t write a thing
And I would do most anything
To write something that sounds like it’s mine
But I just keep on crying and laughing
I think I’m just losing my mind
And I-I’m starting to think I’d better
Put my piano down
In some heated place
And forget…
I know good song is heaven sent
I write it down and my passion spent
But my heart’s falls apart
And piano’s rent
I see my future in a tent…
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
Oh, it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
Oh, it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And it sound like it’s
Not mine at all…
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And I sound like Regina Spektor at times
But it sure doesn’t sound like it is mine…
And if you feel like that
Didn’t you want to hide away
Not that I feel the same way
Not that I feel the same way too
I wanna stop hurting their ears but
I’m afraid of what silence could bring
I got a head full of melodies
I got sounds coming out of my mouth
But none of these melodies I can call mine
And I can’t sing aloud
And I would do most anything
To write something that sounds like it’s mine
But I just keep on singing
The melodies I have in my mind
And I-I’m starting to think I’d better
Put my piano down
In some heated place
And forget…
And it does hurt me
Sure you don’t wanna feel like I feel
Do you wanna know, know, how much it hurts me
Cause it feels so unreal
And it does hurt me
Sure you don’t wanna feel like I feel
Do you wanna know, know, how much it hurts me
And I hate days like these cause they
Make me feel like I can’t write a thing
And I would do most anything
To write something that sounds like it’s mine
But I just keep on crying and laughing
I think I’m just losing my mind
And I-I’m starting to think I’d better
Put my piano down
In some heated place
And forget…
I know good song is heaven sent
I write it down and my passion spent
But my heart’s falls apart
And piano’s rent
I see my future in a tent…
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
Oh, it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
Oh, it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And it sound like it’s
Not mine at all…
And it sounds like this
And it sounds like that
And I sound like Regina Spektor at times
But it sure doesn’t sound like it is mine…
And if you feel like that
Didn’t you want to hide away
Not that I feel the same way
Not that I feel the same way too
Lyrics submitted by americanatropicana
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
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced 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.
I haven't listened to this song in a while, but I think it says "in the room," not "in Rome," and "in some heated place" should be "in some hidden place."
Yes, you're right. I love this song.