"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.
All these inanimate places feel like there changing
And the kids are lined up on the wall like they're ready to die
His forms ascending me its like they just rearranged them
We're all caged up like animals, questioned and ready to cry
'Cause I was just thirteen when I got my first taste of danger
Standing by the church I had a bottle and a pen in my hand
I said "father, I'm sorry, I just don't know what to do with this anger"
And this behavior is correctable, I know this wasn't part of your plan
Oh but punks like us we were always receiving instruction
And you could burn our clothes you could wash out the ink and the dye
But you can't look me in the eye and say you don't feel like a little destruction
And the kids are lining up on the wall and they're ready to die
And the kids are lined up on the wall and they're ready to die
All these days just seem like they're getting longer
The view from my room, its a gloomy and overcast gray
The weakness we left it behind seems to be getting stronger
I swear there's something in the air and I don't know what anyone could say
'Cause I saw the news this morning there was another
A boy the side of the road he had a gun in his hand
I thought oh what could you say to make it ever make sense to his mother
Oh man he was excitable, we were just trying to make him a man
But the day will come when it falls like a cheap house of plastic
And the cards that were dealt, will be tossed like a stone in the sky
'Cause you can only lie for so long before you get something drastic
And the kids are lined up on the wall and they're ready to die
And the kids are lined up on the wall and they're ready to die
And the kids are lined up on the wall like they're ready to die
His forms ascending me its like they just rearranged them
We're all caged up like animals, questioned and ready to cry
'Cause I was just thirteen when I got my first taste of danger
Standing by the church I had a bottle and a pen in my hand
I said "father, I'm sorry, I just don't know what to do with this anger"
And this behavior is correctable, I know this wasn't part of your plan
Oh but punks like us we were always receiving instruction
And you could burn our clothes you could wash out the ink and the dye
But you can't look me in the eye and say you don't feel like a little destruction
And the kids are lining up on the wall and they're ready to die
And the kids are lined up on the wall and they're ready to die
All these days just seem like they're getting longer
The view from my room, its a gloomy and overcast gray
The weakness we left it behind seems to be getting stronger
I swear there's something in the air and I don't know what anyone could say
'Cause I saw the news this morning there was another
A boy the side of the road he had a gun in his hand
I thought oh what could you say to make it ever make sense to his mother
Oh man he was excitable, we were just trying to make him a man
But the day will come when it falls like a cheap house of plastic
And the cards that were dealt, will be tossed like a stone in the sky
'Cause you can only lie for so long before you get something drastic
And the kids are lined up on the wall and they're ready to die
And the kids are lined up on the wall and they're ready to die
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
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Mountain Song
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
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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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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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.
This is not my favorite song on the CD, but it definitely hits home more than any other one. It's about being a boy and getting into trouble. Girls wont appreciate this song as much as the guys will. I loved the first verse, but couldn't relate to the second one. I'll go over a few lines that hit close to home.
"cause i was just thirteen when i got my first taste of danger standing by the church i had a bottle and a pen in my hand" immediately brought me back to my child hood. I was probably around 14 when I was started drinking alcohol and doing minor graffiti with a black marker.
"i said "father, i'm sorry, i just don't know what to do with this anger"misbehavior is correctable, i know this wasn't part of you plan" is another powerful line. Luckily for me my behavior was corrected, but I grew up with a lot of people who ended up in jail. Not because they were born into bad families or had a hard child hood, but just simply because they didn't know what to do with their anger.
"but little fucks like us we were always receiving instruction,and you could burn our cloths you could wash out the ink and the dye" This is something that adds to kids acting out. I remember being younger and people always telling me what to do for whatever reason. What they failed to inform you (but most kids figure out) is the more rules you break the more respect you earn amongst your peers. Looking back I realize how stupid it was to do most of the things I did, but can relate to any kid who decides to make the same stupid decisions.
"but you can't look me in the eye and say you don't feel like a little destruction and the kids are lining up on the wall and they're ready to die" I must admit I still do feel like a little destruction. But now that I am a little older and a lot wiser I will pass. I have seen too many young men lined up on the wall as they were being arrested which inevitably killed their life.
P.S - Sorry if this was not a direct meaning, but it sparked up a few memories and thought I'd share with the rather small Airborne community.
That's kind of presumptuous of you to think that girls aren't going to appreciate the song as well as guys. The great thing about music is that it allows people the ability to emote without action generally associated with catharsis. And believe me, especially in adolescence, women are just as angry as men. The pains of growing up and being angry at the world are not unique to one gender or the other. If anything I think women would identify with this type of music more because its not socially acceptable for women to be angry or aggressive and music is a good outlet for these emotions. This song isn't about being a boy- its about being a kid. <br /> I think in particular its about being a kid in today's world which is looking to violence more and more as a way to deal with frustrations and the sense of non-control that is such a large part of being a teen. I think Musicx hit the nail on the head.
@todoublem
the first verse seems to talk about how all teens feel in general wanting to be free, rebellious, law breaking, and just wanting to have fun, but feeling like they're falling apart
i think the second verse is more about what teens are going through now-a-days teens feel lots of pressure on them, and there have been so many school shootings and suicides these days with teens that its flooded the media and the song isn't just about the kids doing those things but the kids having to deal with a friend doing it or a kid just seeing it on the news. im a teen and i admit its scary hearing about kids my age or younger doing these things, i don't know what i would do if a someone i knew did something drastic like this lines that make me think this: "kids are lining up on the wall..." "and the boy by the side of the road he had a gun in his hand" "i thought oh what could you say to make it ever make sense to his mother" "oh man he was excitable, we were just trying to make him a man" "you can only lie for so long before you get something drastic"
last thought, "the kids are lining up on the wall and they're ready to die" sounds like hes saying the kids have just given up and don't know what to do
i hate saying that there is one meaning to a song, because it can mean something different to everyone, this is just my interpretation based on hearing the song
Third line is "And these forms they send, it's like they'll just rearrange them."
the songs about young teens joining the military and not knowing what theyre getting themselves into. So TATE has said
@stephenstills
I also heard them say this at the show in NYC. The beautiful thing about music is we all kind of hear what we want to hear and find our own meaninng. The whole military thing makes perfect sense but isn't ours a little more meaningful? I almost wish they never explained any song so we could debate forever.
i think the song is about kids being recruited into the military straight out of high school, but more specifically, about the whole experience of PTSD many of them come back with. Like, this part sound like the kid killed himself. So in a sense, it's that they're ready to die overseas, but also at home when they return and the country they "fought for" (q'marks because wars are a geopolitical and economic phenomena, imo) turns their backs on them.
"'Cause I saw the news this morning there was another A boy the side of the road he had a gun in his hand I thought oh what could you say to make it ever make sense to his mother Oh man he was excitable, we were just trying to make him a man."