"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.
Sometimes I get my head in a dilly
Feeling so lost, ticking you off
Now boy, you know me well
Said, I'm that kind of feeling
That kind of soft, that kind of silly
But when I'm in doubt, I open my mouth
And words come out, words come out like
Baby, there's a shark in the water
There's something underneath my bed
Oh, please believe I said
Baby, there's a shark in the water
I caught them barking at the moon
Better be soon
High in the sky, the song that I'm singing
A sweet little lie, I cry wolf, cry
Rabbit out of the hat
Yes that's what I'm bringing
Some tricks up my sleeve, for noticing me
Wouldn't cause you any harm
I just want you in my arms
I can't help, I can't help myself
Baby, there's a shark in the water
There's something underneath my bed
Oh, please believe I said
Baby, there's a shark in the water
I caught them barking at the moon
Better be soon
(Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do ,do)
(Better be soon)
(Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do)
(Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do)
Right is right
Rules are rules
This is more like April fools
I'm just winding you up, oh
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Please don't make too much of it
It ain't that serious
Baby, there's a shark in the water
There's something underneath my bed
Oh, please believe I said
Baby, there's a shark in the water
I caught them barking at the moon
You better get here soon
Baby, there's a shark in the water
Baby, there's a shark in the water
Baby, there's a shark in the water
I caught them barking at the moon
Better be soon
Feeling so lost, ticking you off
Now boy, you know me well
Said, I'm that kind of feeling
That kind of soft, that kind of silly
But when I'm in doubt, I open my mouth
And words come out, words come out like
Baby, there's a shark in the water
There's something underneath my bed
Oh, please believe I said
Baby, there's a shark in the water
I caught them barking at the moon
Better be soon
High in the sky, the song that I'm singing
A sweet little lie, I cry wolf, cry
Rabbit out of the hat
Yes that's what I'm bringing
Some tricks up my sleeve, for noticing me
Wouldn't cause you any harm
I just want you in my arms
I can't help, I can't help myself
Baby, there's a shark in the water
There's something underneath my bed
Oh, please believe I said
Baby, there's a shark in the water
I caught them barking at the moon
Better be soon
(Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do ,do)
(Better be soon)
(Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do)
(Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do)
Right is right
Rules are rules
This is more like April fools
I'm just winding you up, oh
Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Please don't make too much of it
It ain't that serious
Baby, there's a shark in the water
There's something underneath my bed
Oh, please believe I said
Baby, there's a shark in the water
I caught them barking at the moon
You better get here soon
Baby, there's a shark in the water
Baby, there's a shark in the water
Baby, there's a shark in the water
I caught them barking at the moon
Better be soon
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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
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
If this isn't about Borderline Personality Disorder, I don't know what is... The fairy tales, deliberately causing drama for attention and "love", the paranoia, winding people up and telling them it's not serious...
Unless you've been on the receiving end, it's impossible to understand what that's like. And even on the receiving end it's hard to understand. I've got all tn education about Cluster Bs I need and then some, thanks. No need to pretend it's misunderstood or got stigma when Cluster Bs are doing quite well perpetuating their own stigma for no valid reason :)