"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.
you wanna talk about it
let me talk about it
i've got the sound that kills
and there's nothing like it
i came to rock the party
you got to work your body
we're in the dark
no one can see
so i can touch your body
you know my name, right
i'm kind of famous now
i'm taking pictures with my fans
signing on tits now
i am a rockstar
and i party like one
in fact i partied like a rockstar before being one
push on the accelerator
i like when we drive faster
i want to feel the speed
this car's got what i need
no we ain't gonna stop
we're driving to the top
don't want to look back
i'm choosing the fast track
you can practice all you want
just to get me
i ain't trying to test no one
i'm just trying to please me
sometimes what i do is wrong
sometimes i can reach the
higher state of living
'cause i'm making you feel free
you wanna talk about it
let me talk about it
i've got the sound that kills
and there's nothing like it
i came to rock the party
you got to work your body
we're in the dark
no one can see
so i can touch your body
music is the best thing that ever happened to me
i'm hooked on that thing
now i'm feeling like a junkie
i bring you a brand new dance
if you do it with me
the u, the f f and i get better with the big e
right now i don't think anyone is gonna bounce out of here
the music got you on the floor
we ain't going nowhere
i know you like the way i drop it like the boss do
i might be young
but i'm killing like i'm supposed to
dancing like i'm supposed to
partying like i'm supposed to
like r. kelly in the club where i'm supposed to
you know we sound so fresh
one can do it better
it's just another track
no we ain't gonna stop
you wanna talk about it
let me talk about it
i've got the sound that kills
and there's nothing like it
i came to rock the party
you got to work your body
we're in the dark
no one can see
so i can touch your body
let me talk about it
i've got the sound that kills
and there's nothing like it
i came to rock the party
you got to work your body
we're in the dark
no one can see
so i can touch your body
you know my name, right
i'm kind of famous now
i'm taking pictures with my fans
signing on tits now
i am a rockstar
and i party like one
in fact i partied like a rockstar before being one
push on the accelerator
i like when we drive faster
i want to feel the speed
this car's got what i need
no we ain't gonna stop
we're driving to the top
don't want to look back
i'm choosing the fast track
you can practice all you want
just to get me
i ain't trying to test no one
i'm just trying to please me
sometimes what i do is wrong
sometimes i can reach the
higher state of living
'cause i'm making you feel free
you wanna talk about it
let me talk about it
i've got the sound that kills
and there's nothing like it
i came to rock the party
you got to work your body
we're in the dark
no one can see
so i can touch your body
music is the best thing that ever happened to me
i'm hooked on that thing
now i'm feeling like a junkie
i bring you a brand new dance
if you do it with me
the u, the f f and i get better with the big e
right now i don't think anyone is gonna bounce out of here
the music got you on the floor
we ain't going nowhere
i know you like the way i drop it like the boss do
i might be young
but i'm killing like i'm supposed to
dancing like i'm supposed to
partying like i'm supposed to
like r. kelly in the club where i'm supposed to
you know we sound so fresh
one can do it better
it's just another track
no we ain't gonna stop
you wanna talk about it
let me talk about it
i've got the sound that kills
and there's nothing like it
i came to rock the party
you got to work your body
we're in the dark
no one can see
so i can touch your body
Lyrics submitted by folie
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
I think this song is about Uffie's rising fame in music (she just released her own album) and her veiws about the industry and just basically having fun. I love this song.
this song is freaking awesome!
i thought it was drop it like a barstool?