"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.
While you lie on your back
And move through the scars
So careful you are
To surrender a thing
But Jesus ain't comin'
So don't waste your time
Not yours and not mine
You're only dreaming
And while you were scheming
The silver, the sheets
Far above the leaves
I snuck into your scene
Don't lie there looking
Behind your troubled walls
Wicked as they are
You're not deceiving
And if I could find your heart
I would pull it from your chest
And smash you with my fist
Til it was beating
And if there's a hole inside
Heaven in your bed
'Cause the angel that you kissed
Just left you bleeding
I know it ain't easy
To keep roundin' on
When the voices in your skull
Are always screaming
Broke into your prison
And dropped the sleeping guards
Painted flowers on the bars
And snuck you out the yard
Paralysed and gleaming
With visions of new states
We're wrapped in our embrace
While we were dreaming
And move through the scars
So careful you are
To surrender a thing
But Jesus ain't comin'
So don't waste your time
Not yours and not mine
You're only dreaming
And while you were scheming
The silver, the sheets
Far above the leaves
I snuck into your scene
Don't lie there looking
Behind your troubled walls
Wicked as they are
You're not deceiving
And if I could find your heart
I would pull it from your chest
And smash you with my fist
Til it was beating
And if there's a hole inside
Heaven in your bed
'Cause the angel that you kissed
Just left you bleeding
I know it ain't easy
To keep roundin' on
When the voices in your skull
Are always screaming
Broke into your prison
And dropped the sleeping guards
Painted flowers on the bars
And snuck you out the yard
Paralysed and gleaming
With visions of new states
We're wrapped in our embrace
While we were dreaming
Lyrics submitted by TheByronicHero
While We Were Dreaming Lyrics as written by Stephen Mcbean
Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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 is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard.
While you lie on your back And milk through the scars So careful you are To surrender a thing
But Jesus ain't comin' So don't waste your time Not yours and not mine You're only dreaming
And while you were scheming The silver the sheets Far above the leaves I snuck into your seat
Don't lie there, lurking Behind your troubled walls Wicked as they are You're not deceiving
And if I could find your heart I would pull it from your chest And smash it with my fist Til it was beating
And if there's a hole inside Heaven in your prayer Coz the angel that you kissed Just left you bleeding
I know it ain't easy To keep ramblin' on When the voices in your skull Are always screaming
Broke into your prison And dround the sleeping guards Painted flowers on the bars And snuck you out the yard
Paralysed and gleaming With visions of new states We're wrapped in our embrace While we were dreaming
"While you lie on your back And move through the scars So careful you are To surrender a thing"
It seems that because of their past, it's hard to move forward with their lives: to trust and be open and let someone be there for them.
"But Jesus ain't comin' So don't waste your time Not yours and not mine You're only dreaming"
That person seems to be waiting for someone ("Jesus," the saviour) in their life--the person they want to open up to and let them in their life--to save them from the pain they feel, even though it's hard for them to be honest and upfront about how they are feeling.
"Don't lie there, looking Behind your troubled walls Wicked as they are You're not deceiving"
The person is question keeps these barriors , maybe trying to hide their hurt by numbing their pain, even though it's obvious how they are feeling.
"And if I could find your heart I would pull it from your chest And smash you with my fist Til it was beating"
This one I am honestly not so sure about when it gets to the line "And smash it with my fist." How I see it is that that person wants this other person to be open, but it's hard when all that person can do is hide behind those walls they built up to protect themselves. This person wants the other person to start feeling again, rather than caging themselves and supressing their feelings.
"And if there's a hole inside Heaven in your bed Coz the angel that you kissed Just left you bleeding"
The person opened up to someone who seemed to really good, only to end up hurting in the end.
"I know it ain't easy To keep roundin' on When the voices in your skull Are always screaming"
It's not easy to keep going on with their life ad trying new things, because they don't know how to trust others. Self explanitory, really.
"Broke into your prison And dropped the sleeping guards Painted flowers on the bars And snuck you out the yard"
The singer destroyed their defenses and helped them see that there can be beauty in everything, and even though it's hard to see sometimes with you being behind a wall all the time, it's possible.
"Paralysed and gleaming With visions of new states We're wrapped in our embrace While we were dreaming"
This person is shocked that someone could help them see a different way of life.
Great song!