"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.
This what you call hardcore, fat gospel.. street gospel
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my people at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my heart is at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] C'mon let's bring it back
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS-One]
Raw rhymes for raw times
My albums are underground, but this blessing is all mine
And when it's tour time, we open more minds
You need to rethink who you think is the "Greatest of All Time"
I got this -- I'm raw like Freddie Foxxx is
Hardcore like The LOX is, Scott LaRock is where Tupac is
Where hip-hop is, Digital-ly Underground like Shock is
Oh yes -- I know where the top is
But I'd rather rhyme about how crooked some of these cops is
My synopsis ain't pretty
I'd stay, off them plains and, out the city if I were you
Do what you gotta do
But while you wave them flags, remember Amadou .. Diallo
Here's what we gotta do, follow
I'll put hip-hop in you if you're hollow
Those that already filled, STILL take swallows
Goin over potholes with Tahoes
You don't think +I+ know? Huh! I'm lookin at you right now
You ain't dancin in the club, you in your car, sittin down
You in the crib, on the low
You got them headsets on the go
You just saw me at the show - oh you don't know?
It's the Temple of Hip-Hop, comin, with a whole DIFFERENT flow
Yo where them hoes at? I don't know
But wherever God at, I'ma go
I give 'em a hard rap AND a flow
That's why when they call back for the show, with no video
We get up and go!
[Chorus: repeat 2X]
[KRS] Yo where it started at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my people at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my heart is at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] C'mon let's bring it back
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS-One]
Peep it out while I tell ya like this
In every single hood in the WORLD I'm called Kris
It's the, truth for ya, it's the proof for ya
My Cristal passes more bars than lawyers
The underground sound, this is not easily found
You don't need no rings to be down
This is, past the platinum and gold
We already had 'em, it's old
Here's the truth if it be told, gather 'round
Philosopher style is known to be wild
If you only holdin them guns, who's holdin your child?
You got to be thinkin you KNOW that you shrinkin
When the art of Navigation has been reduced to a Lincoln
Change the dial! I was free then and I'm free now
You free, runnin to MTV? I don't see how!
You know the real from the fake, you know they stealin they cake
You know it ain't about the art, it's all about what they make
You know the radio's late, you know they play what you hate
That's why you got that Kay Slay tape, tryin to escape
You know the love of the cars and the rims
Tattooed arms and Timbs, are also called sins
You know you got to pay for these spins
You know the rap magazines be wack from beginning to the end
BO!
[Chorus]
[KRS-One]
I never was a king and I'm not the Pres
I'm a teacher like that reefer goin straight to your head
I'm a preacher tryin to bring my people back from the dead
I'm a leader tryin to keep you all away from the feds
You my sister I'll be tryin to get you OUT of the bed
I'm a philospher sayin what has GOT to be said
I don't FILL you with lead, I bring that KNOWLEDGE instead
FOLLOW this dread, I'll take you from A to Zed
Who am I? Just a scholar called K-R-S
You can spend your money on others but THEY AIN'T BLESSED
You can spend your money drugs and STILL BE STRESSED
Look around for conscious rappes yo there AIN'T NONE LEFT
I'm holdin it down; better yet I'm holdin up
Waitin for some young buck to come and sip from the cup
And continue with the menu puttin new knowledge in you
I got a question and a lesson cause I KNOW what you been through
But..
[Chorus] - 1/2
{*no beat*}
[KRS] Yo where it started at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my people at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my heart is at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] C'mon let's bring it back!!
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my people at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my heart is at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] C'mon let's bring it back
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS-One]
Raw rhymes for raw times
My albums are underground, but this blessing is all mine
And when it's tour time, we open more minds
You need to rethink who you think is the "Greatest of All Time"
I got this -- I'm raw like Freddie Foxxx is
Hardcore like The LOX is, Scott LaRock is where Tupac is
Where hip-hop is, Digital-ly Underground like Shock is
Oh yes -- I know where the top is
But I'd rather rhyme about how crooked some of these cops is
My synopsis ain't pretty
I'd stay, off them plains and, out the city if I were you
Do what you gotta do
But while you wave them flags, remember Amadou .. Diallo
Here's what we gotta do, follow
I'll put hip-hop in you if you're hollow
Those that already filled, STILL take swallows
Goin over potholes with Tahoes
You don't think +I+ know? Huh! I'm lookin at you right now
You ain't dancin in the club, you in your car, sittin down
You in the crib, on the low
You got them headsets on the go
You just saw me at the show - oh you don't know?
It's the Temple of Hip-Hop, comin, with a whole DIFFERENT flow
Yo where them hoes at? I don't know
But wherever God at, I'ma go
I give 'em a hard rap AND a flow
That's why when they call back for the show, with no video
We get up and go!
[Chorus: repeat 2X]
[KRS] Yo where it started at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my people at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my heart is at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] C'mon let's bring it back
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS-One]
Peep it out while I tell ya like this
In every single hood in the WORLD I'm called Kris
It's the, truth for ya, it's the proof for ya
My Cristal passes more bars than lawyers
The underground sound, this is not easily found
You don't need no rings to be down
This is, past the platinum and gold
We already had 'em, it's old
Here's the truth if it be told, gather 'round
Philosopher style is known to be wild
If you only holdin them guns, who's holdin your child?
You got to be thinkin you KNOW that you shrinkin
When the art of Navigation has been reduced to a Lincoln
Change the dial! I was free then and I'm free now
You free, runnin to MTV? I don't see how!
You know the real from the fake, you know they stealin they cake
You know it ain't about the art, it's all about what they make
You know the radio's late, you know they play what you hate
That's why you got that Kay Slay tape, tryin to escape
You know the love of the cars and the rims
Tattooed arms and Timbs, are also called sins
You know you got to pay for these spins
You know the rap magazines be wack from beginning to the end
BO!
[Chorus]
[KRS-One]
I never was a king and I'm not the Pres
I'm a teacher like that reefer goin straight to your head
I'm a preacher tryin to bring my people back from the dead
I'm a leader tryin to keep you all away from the feds
You my sister I'll be tryin to get you OUT of the bed
I'm a philospher sayin what has GOT to be said
I don't FILL you with lead, I bring that KNOWLEDGE instead
FOLLOW this dread, I'll take you from A to Zed
Who am I? Just a scholar called K-R-S
You can spend your money on others but THEY AIN'T BLESSED
You can spend your money drugs and STILL BE STRESSED
Look around for conscious rappes yo there AIN'T NONE LEFT
I'm holdin it down; better yet I'm holdin up
Waitin for some young buck to come and sip from the cup
And continue with the menu puttin new knowledge in you
I got a question and a lesson cause I KNOW what you been through
But..
[Chorus] - 1/2
{*no beat*}
[KRS] Yo where it started at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my people at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] Yo where my heart is at?
[all] South South, Bronx!
[KRS] C'mon let's bring it back!!
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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.
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/
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.