"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.
Drag your shadow down the street
Is it you I was to meet?
With your saints there on a chain
Waiting on another rain
And I'm going down
Where the waves will surround
To the roar and the pound
Of the wild wild sea
Talking sweet to me
Marching in a slow parade
There are ashes where you lay
And sometimes I don't mind at all
And sometimes head against the wall
The tide will bring and tide will take
Find another horse to break
You're just a rider on a wheel
In a dream where love was real
And I going down
Where the waves will surround
To the roll and the pound
Of the wild wild sea
Talking sweet to me
Is it you I was to meet?
With your saints there on a chain
Waiting on another rain
And I'm going down
Where the waves will surround
To the roar and the pound
Of the wild wild sea
Talking sweet to me
Marching in a slow parade
There are ashes where you lay
And sometimes I don't mind at all
And sometimes head against the wall
The tide will bring and tide will take
Find another horse to break
You're just a rider on a wheel
In a dream where love was real
And I going down
Where the waves will surround
To the roll and the pound
Of the wild wild sea
Talking sweet to me
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
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.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
Drag your shadow down the street Was it you I was to meet With your saints there on a chain Waiting on another rain
And I'm going down Where the waves will surround To the roll and the pound Of the wild, wild sea Talking sweet to me
Marching in a slow parade There are ashes where you laid Sometimes I don't mind at all And sometimes head against the wall The tide will bring and tide will take Find another horse to break just a rider on a wheel In a dream where love was real
And I'm going down Where the waves will surround To the roll and the pound Of the wild, wild sea Talking sweet to me
The song is about someone sacrificing their life to save a friend.