"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.
Can't complain about everything,
This one leaves me with a permanent stain, all over me.
I can't take the way you look at me.
Those eyes could never lie.
The truth will find its way out.
In time I'll pour it out,
Until then I'll keep you inside my head.
Take a look at what's beneath your feet,
Flowers that once made you smile
Have turned to stone now they're grinding down your teeth.
Walls around your mind can't keep you safe,
Build them up with steel and stone and watch your soul escape.
Get through today and know that you are secure.
Get a grasp on the fact that this is what you're here for.
You can quake at the thought of it.
Shakes you up quite a bit
And all you do is think and thinking gets you nowhere.
Just wait for clarity you say this will all make sense.
Just stay here with me.
I can't take the way you look at me.
Control, I have lost.
There's no sense in clawing myself out
And I know you can't live without taking all that's left inside my head.
Take a look at what's beneath your feet,
Flowers that once made you smile have turned to stone
Now they're grinding down your teeth.
The walls around your mind can't keep you safe,
Build them up with steel and stone and watch your soul escape, away.
This one leaves me with a permanent stain, all over me.
I can't take the way you look at me.
Those eyes could never lie.
The truth will find its way out.
In time I'll pour it out,
Until then I'll keep you inside my head.
Take a look at what's beneath your feet,
Flowers that once made you smile
Have turned to stone now they're grinding down your teeth.
Walls around your mind can't keep you safe,
Build them up with steel and stone and watch your soul escape.
Get through today and know that you are secure.
Get a grasp on the fact that this is what you're here for.
You can quake at the thought of it.
Shakes you up quite a bit
And all you do is think and thinking gets you nowhere.
Just wait for clarity you say this will all make sense.
Just stay here with me.
I can't take the way you look at me.
Control, I have lost.
There's no sense in clawing myself out
And I know you can't live without taking all that's left inside my head.
Take a look at what's beneath your feet,
Flowers that once made you smile have turned to stone
Now they're grinding down your teeth.
The walls around your mind can't keep you safe,
Build them up with steel and stone and watch your soul escape, away.
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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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"
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Awesome song.
Don't you think it's time?
Peanut butter jelly time?
So I don't quite agree with the other comments so I thought I would add my own, I personally believe this song is about dying inside.
It seems to me that the first verse is about believing he knows what others think of him just by looking perhaps not by actually knowing but what he mentally has perceived.
The second verse/chorus is talking about how he used to love things but know as hes gotten older they have lost there meaning/value and perhaps have even become a point of frustration for him, it also talks about walling up your mind, shutting down to the outside world so it doesn't cause you anymore pain.
The third & fourth verse I believe is about the repercussions of shutting down in that manner.
If you watch the official music video for the song you see the band members dragging the body bags and burying what I believe is supposed to be a representation of who they used to be and then mourning them at the end as you see them there placing flowers at the burial site.
Just what I think it means but let me know if you think I'm right/wrong and why:D
This song sounds like it could be about suicide.
The first verse seems as if it could be the person talking to themselves or writing a note about why they've done it, and then saying that they want to be remembered. "I can't take the way you look at me / Those eyes could never lie" "Until then I'll keep you inside my head"
The chorus could be the person that committed suicide trying to talk to a family member/friend who is visiting their grave, or (using the music video) it could be talking to everyone attending their funeral.
Again, the next verse would follow on from that. saying that everyone at the funeral might "quake" at the thought of the deceased person not being there, but they need to move on. "And all you do is think / And thinking gets you nowhere"
The third verse is a bit of a grey area (for me anyway), because it could be a family member/friend of the deceased mourning at their grave, and trying to talk to them, and the person that has committed suicide is listening. The person that is mourning isn't happy with the deceased. "Just wait for clarity / You say this will all make sense / Just stay here with me / I can't take the way you look at me"
The repeat of the chorus is the aftermath of the mourning person constantly going back to the grave to mourn. To me, it seems like they have decided to commit suicide as well, as the repeat is fairly quiet, and then the word "away" is held when sung, and it could also show that the mourning person is now "away", after killing themselves, from not being able to cope with the original suicide.
The overall mellow/dark tone of the song backs up my interpretation, as does the music video, which is absolutely brilliant. Quake is definitely one of the best songs on the album.
Just my two cents.
I feel like it could be about a person whos friend or loved one commits suicide and they're concealing all the pain "the truth will find its way out in time ill pour it out until then ill keep you inside my head"
To me this sounds like someone who has been unfaithful and is conflicted about keeping it a secret or telling the truth. The act has made everything turn to shit but they don’t want the other to know. Keeping it inside saves them from exposure but at the cost of losing their soul. I think it’s an internal conversation that he is having with himself.