"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.
An astronaut lost his finger
to the back of a grain truck
and I can't stop thinking about it.
I'm thinking about it.
Thinking about it, I'm thinking about it.
Isn't everything strange?
Buildings as brick boxes to be opened,
turned sideways and cracked.
Except the water that is inside is much too fluid, too fast.
The you and I that spiral past the windowsill,
the fire escape is on its back,
watching us swallowed up in the blue and green.
Flaring in the air with the vapor trails from all the first pages.
The same two color contrails that twist around every other color left crowded out.
A record played.
The lights go out.
The Cineplex screen presents new strangled spectrums.
What we mean:
swallowed up, swallowed up, swallowed up in the blue and green.
1979 in a field with a bloody thumb.
Alone with the whir of the grain wheel hum.
Ten years since he saw us all.
He came back to never look another in the eye the same way again.
He walked inside, put his finger in the ice and didn't flinch at all.
He came back to never look another in the eye the same way again.
He walked inside, put his finger in the ice.
She walked inside, he didn't flinch at all.
She walked inside, put his finger in the ice.
She walked inside, he didn't flinch at all.
to the back of a grain truck
and I can't stop thinking about it.
I'm thinking about it.
Thinking about it, I'm thinking about it.
Isn't everything strange?
Buildings as brick boxes to be opened,
turned sideways and cracked.
Except the water that is inside is much too fluid, too fast.
The you and I that spiral past the windowsill,
the fire escape is on its back,
watching us swallowed up in the blue and green.
Flaring in the air with the vapor trails from all the first pages.
The same two color contrails that twist around every other color left crowded out.
A record played.
The lights go out.
The Cineplex screen presents new strangled spectrums.
What we mean:
swallowed up, swallowed up, swallowed up in the blue and green.
1979 in a field with a bloody thumb.
Alone with the whir of the grain wheel hum.
Ten years since he saw us all.
He came back to never look another in the eye the same way again.
He walked inside, put his finger in the ice and didn't flinch at all.
He came back to never look another in the eye the same way again.
He walked inside, put his finger in the ice.
She walked inside, he didn't flinch at all.
She walked inside, put his finger in the ice.
She walked inside, he didn't flinch at all.
Lyrics submitted by notperfect88
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
This song is mostly about neil armstrong. in 1979 he was working on his fathers farm. he jumped off of a moving grain truck, and lost his ring finger. he walked inside and calmly put his finger in ice, and had it reattached.
Buildings as brick boxes to be opened, turned sideways and cracked. Except the what? that is inside is much too fluid, too fast.
that is referring to our bodies, and how easy it is to break them. that is what he was thinking about, because of neil armstrong. the blue and green themes are referring to what the earth looks like from space. the two colors that crowd all the other colors out.
funny how exactly the same story happened to the other astronaut Deke Slayton. ring finger, farming accident.