"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.
What you at my gentle spoken friend
I lack a frame to put you in
When you're an ocean and a rock away
I feel you in the pocket of my overcoat
My fingers wrap around your words
And take the shape of games we play
I feed your words through my buttonholes
I bring them to my fingerless gloves
Green and prone to fraying
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm on the phone
Let's get lost, me and you
An ocean and a rock is nothing to me
I am far away from where you lay
Awake the day while you fall to sleep
An ocean and a rock away
I keep you in the pockets of my dresses
And the bristles of my brushes
Spin you into my curls today
I spoon you into my coffee cup
Spin you through a delicate wash
I wear you all day
I wear you all day
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm on the phone
Let's get lost, me and you
And ocean and rock is nothing to me
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm nearly home
Let's get lost, me and you
An ocean and a rock is nothing to me
I lack a frame to put you in
When you're an ocean and a rock away
I feel you in the pocket of my overcoat
My fingers wrap around your words
And take the shape of games we play
I feed your words through my buttonholes
I bring them to my fingerless gloves
Green and prone to fraying
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm on the phone
Let's get lost, me and you
An ocean and a rock is nothing to me
I am far away from where you lay
Awake the day while you fall to sleep
An ocean and a rock away
I keep you in the pockets of my dresses
And the bristles of my brushes
Spin you into my curls today
I spoon you into my coffee cup
Spin you through a delicate wash
I wear you all day
I wear you all day
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm on the phone
Let's get lost, me and you
And ocean and rock is nothing to me
Thoughts of you warm my bones
I'm on the way, I'm nearly home
Let's get lost, me and you
An ocean and a rock is nothing to me
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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.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Love this song, like it more and more every time I listen.. From looking at the lyrics I guess it has a fairly clear meaning. She sings about someone she's fallen in love with. And even when he isn't there (an ocean and a rock away) she feels him in everything she does... well that's how I'd like to think of it :) A very sweet song.
I believe the song meaning is about Lisa falling in love with someone who lives in Ireland. However, Lisa is on the road a lot in other countries. Perhaps she is in the United States in this song. She can't stop thinking about him, even though he is literally an "ocean and a rock" away, which is a very poetic way of referring to the other side of the world. The end of the song shows the hope in her returning to Ireland.
i loooooove this songgg i cant believe no one has commented on it! it is so adorable and lisa hannigan has an amazing voice
A more Irish, more artsy version of Selena's song "Dreaming About You And Me," was my first impression of this song. That was the first song I fell in love with as a kid, and this is the first song I fell in love with as an adult (since I heard it shortly after turning 18). Her voice is refreshing, it's like water. She was great with Damien Rice, but I'm glad to see that she has made music of her own, and incredibly poetic music, too. I got iPod money for Christmas and this was the #1 thing on my list to buy. Venn Diagram and Teeth are also incredible. I'd like to see more people comment on her, but she's still relatively obscure, I guess. Doesn't deserve to be, tho. She's amazing!!!
my fingers wrap around your words they take the shape of games we play...
she sums it up so effortlessly. I just can't get enough.
Her phone. It's about her cell phone.
"I spoon you into my coffee cup / Spin you through a delicate wash"<br /> Those are the only lines which make me question your interpretation. It's surprisingly easy to see this song as about a phone rather than a distant lover.<br />