"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.
Couldn't shake the cold away
A year alone, stock still and stuck in snow
Two black eyes, this phony smile
My senses dead, my body bent in ice
Then you took off your winter clothes
And you leaned against with your eager innocence
My brittle knotted wrists twitched
Reaching out for it
When we're running from the hospital, don't stop. don't stop.
Though the guards'll call, and the cops'll come, don't stop. don't stop.
They do not know us. we don't stop because of our love. our love.
And we don't need their law, like the paper it's written on, it will fade. it will melt away.
Like snow, it runs to the river below
A year alone, stock still and stuck in snow
Two black eyes, this phony smile
My senses dead, my body bent in ice
Then you took off your winter clothes
And you leaned against with your eager innocence
My brittle knotted wrists twitched
Reaching out for it
When we're running from the hospital, don't stop. don't stop.
Though the guards'll call, and the cops'll come, don't stop. don't stop.
They do not know us. we don't stop because of our love. our love.
And we don't need their law, like the paper it's written on, it will fade. it will melt away.
Like snow, it runs to the river below
Lyrics submitted by sassmaster
Parson Brown (Upirn Gaangutuq Iqalunni) Lyrics as written by Timothy John Baker
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
A very dark song. A metaphorical 'snowman' has his dull senses awakened by the innocent affections of a child. The dark reality is mostly only hinted at through the musical arrangement and the title.
The ending - "we don't need their law, like the paper it's written on, it will fade. it will melt away. like snow, it runs to the river below" - acknowledges that the intimate actions are illegal. The 'snowman' is a child molester.
The priest in this article - heraldtribune.com/article/20061019/NEWS/610190725 - has a a similar moral detachment with regard to his behaviour. Human beings seem capable of creating an internal narrative imbuing themselves with 'innocence' when they have committed an act that is in reality morally reprehensible. Is this kind of molester any less monstrous than those who dehumanize or blame the victim? In their own minds, certainly, but outside of their imagination, the consequences are the same.