"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.
Strands of light upon a bedroom floor
Change the night through an open door
I'm awake but this not my home
For the first time I'm not alone
Reaching out, I touch another skin
Breathing out as he is breathing in
Deep inside I feel my soul aflame
Can my life ever be the same?
I should have told him
I'd do anything if I could hold him
For just another day, for just another day
His love is something I will not forget
When I am far away, when I am far away
I feel the rainfall of another planet
Another planet
Close together in the afterglow
I remember how his loving flow
Turned the key into another world
Made a woman of a simple girl
Daylight comes as we both know it must
Soon my fantasies will turn to dust
But I would give him anything he asked
If my first love could be my last
I should have told him
I'd do anything if I could hold him
For just another day, for just another day
His love is something I will not regret
When I am far away, when I am far away
I feel the rainfall of another planet
When I am far away, when I am far away
I feel the rainfall of another planet, another planet
Change the night through an open door
I'm awake but this not my home
For the first time I'm not alone
Reaching out, I touch another skin
Breathing out as he is breathing in
Deep inside I feel my soul aflame
Can my life ever be the same?
I should have told him
I'd do anything if I could hold him
For just another day, for just another day
His love is something I will not forget
When I am far away, when I am far away
I feel the rainfall of another planet
Another planet
Close together in the afterglow
I remember how his loving flow
Turned the key into another world
Made a woman of a simple girl
Daylight comes as we both know it must
Soon my fantasies will turn to dust
But I would give him anything he asked
If my first love could be my last
I should have told him
I'd do anything if I could hold him
For just another day, for just another day
His love is something I will not regret
When I am far away, when I am far away
I feel the rainfall of another planet
When I am far away, when I am far away
I feel the rainfall of another planet, another planet
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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”
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.
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.
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.
For years now, every time I heard the name Kiki Dee on the radio, they were playing her duet with Elton John, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". Every time I searched for Kiki Dee (longing to hear "Amoureuse" again), I came up with the same. As songs go, DGBMH is OK, but it's light fluff.
"Amoureuse", on the other hand, is the real thing:strong, passionate, FELT! I really don't know why the radio stopped playing it, but am thrilled to be able to hear it - after all these years - on YouTube, while reading the lyrics here in another window.
Thanks for uploading this. A beautiful song. A classic.