"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.
Begging like you might take order in your own hands
I stare, it seems like I don't care, drop
a chance in your hands then
I know that bad's got to fix itself, correct over time
And I know 'cause I've got the cure, I've
got a cure for your crimes
All I dreamed up, all that seemed like luck seems silly to you now
All I said to you, all I did for you seems so silly to me now
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
Screaming like no one might call the cops and arrest you this time.
Standing back against my building's back
door
I you're hoping for a ride.
I know the world's been mean to you, I've got a cure, hold tight.
I know the world's not fair to you, I've
got a cure for it's crimes
All I dreamed up, all that seemed like luck seems silly to you now
All I said to you, all I did for you seems so silly to me now
Oh oh when you say it
So so slowly to me
Oh oh well I keep going
Oh no I ran while knowing
No no I know you need it
So so I need it too
And oh oh I must keep going
So so you must too
Oh oh when you say it
So so slowly to me
Oh oh well I keep going
Oh no I ran while knowing
No no I know you need it
So so I need it too
And oh oh I must keep going, so you must too
I've got a cure, I've got the cure for you
All I dreamed up, all that seemed like luck seems silly to you now
All I said to you, all I did for you seems so silly to me now
All I dreamed up, all that seemed like luck seems silly to you now
All I said to you, all I did for you seems so silly to me now
I've got a cure, I've got the cure for you
I've got a cure, I've got the cure for you
I stare, it seems like I don't care, drop
a chance in your hands then
I know that bad's got to fix itself, correct over time
And I know 'cause I've got the cure, I've
got a cure for your crimes
All I dreamed up, all that seemed like luck seems silly to you now
All I said to you, all I did for you seems so silly to me now
Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, oh oh
Screaming like no one might call the cops and arrest you this time.
Standing back against my building's back
door
I you're hoping for a ride.
I know the world's been mean to you, I've got a cure, hold tight.
I know the world's not fair to you, I've
got a cure for it's crimes
All I dreamed up, all that seemed like luck seems silly to you now
All I said to you, all I did for you seems so silly to me now
Oh oh when you say it
So so slowly to me
Oh oh well I keep going
Oh no I ran while knowing
No no I know you need it
So so I need it too
And oh oh I must keep going
So so you must too
Oh oh when you say it
So so slowly to me
Oh oh well I keep going
Oh no I ran while knowing
No no I know you need it
So so I need it too
And oh oh I must keep going, so you must too
I've got a cure, I've got the cure for you
All I dreamed up, all that seemed like luck seems silly to you now
All I said to you, all I did for you seems so silly to me now
All I dreamed up, all that seemed like luck seems silly to you now
All I said to you, all I did for you seems so silly to me now
I've got a cure, I've got the cure for you
I've got a cure, I've got the cure for you
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Does anyone else think this song sounds alot like "Lovesong" by The Cure? Hint hint.
Ahhh! Before I replied to the comment above I was thinking the Cure! I love them and so the title of the song in general made me think of them. Anytime I see the words "the cure" I think the band.. Lol now im listening to love song in one ear and the cure (TnS) in the other.. Lol