"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.
Not gonna miss you when you're dead and gone
Not gonna talk about you over and over and over
Not gonna find you under latest nostalgia, not happily ever after
Not gonna listen 'til you play that song (play that song)
Don't wanna think about you over and over and over
Not gonna read about the latest fads on your trendy blog
I want nothin' to do with that
'Cause you've made a mess of everything
(And I'm not listening)
You're not a hero, you're a liar
You're not a savior, you're a vampire
Sucking the life out of all the friends you've ever known
You're just a train wreck, not a winner
Up on your soap box preaching down to the sinners
The saints without a cause, we're not listening, we're not listening
I'm gonna a start a revolution
Of convoluted disillusion
(Start a revolution)
I'll need a war with no conclusion
And in the final hour I'll be a confident coward
'Cause if we stand for nothing, we'll fall for anything
You're not a hero, you're a liar
You're not a savior, you're a vampire
Sucking the life out of all the friends you've ever known
You're just a train wreck, not a winner
Up on your soap box preaching down to the sinners
The saints without a cause, we're not listening, we're not listening
Now this is moving in the same direction
But I'm a little too spent to care
'Cause it's a battlefield 'til it blows over
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer
The time is now 'til we live and pass out, singin'
We talk shit like it's a cross to bare
You're only relevant 'til you get older
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer (enemies closer)
They're gonna miss me when I'm dead and gone
They're gonna talk about me over and over and over
They're gonna find me under latest nostalgia, happily ever after
But I'm not a hero, I'm a liar
I'm not a savior, I'm a vampire
Sucking the life out of all the friends I've ever known
We're a train wreck, not winners
On a soap box preaching down to the sinners
The saints without a cause, we're not listening, we're not listening
We're not listening, we're not listening
Not gonna talk about you over and over and over
Not gonna find you under latest nostalgia, not happily ever after
Not gonna listen 'til you play that song (play that song)
Don't wanna think about you over and over and over
Not gonna read about the latest fads on your trendy blog
I want nothin' to do with that
'Cause you've made a mess of everything
(And I'm not listening)
You're not a hero, you're a liar
You're not a savior, you're a vampire
Sucking the life out of all the friends you've ever known
You're just a train wreck, not a winner
Up on your soap box preaching down to the sinners
The saints without a cause, we're not listening, we're not listening
I'm gonna a start a revolution
Of convoluted disillusion
(Start a revolution)
I'll need a war with no conclusion
And in the final hour I'll be a confident coward
'Cause if we stand for nothing, we'll fall for anything
You're not a hero, you're a liar
You're not a savior, you're a vampire
Sucking the life out of all the friends you've ever known
You're just a train wreck, not a winner
Up on your soap box preaching down to the sinners
The saints without a cause, we're not listening, we're not listening
Now this is moving in the same direction
But I'm a little too spent to care
'Cause it's a battlefield 'til it blows over
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer
The time is now 'til we live and pass out, singin'
We talk shit like it's a cross to bare
You're only relevant 'til you get older
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer (enemies closer)
They're gonna miss me when I'm dead and gone
They're gonna talk about me over and over and over
They're gonna find me under latest nostalgia, happily ever after
But I'm not a hero, I'm a liar
I'm not a savior, I'm a vampire
Sucking the life out of all the friends I've ever known
We're a train wreck, not winners
On a soap box preaching down to the sinners
The saints without a cause, we're not listening, we're not listening
We're not listening, we're not listening
Lyrics submitted by thoseguiltyeyes, edited by CDWARS
Heroes Lyrics as written by Alex Gaskarth John Feldmann
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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Little Feat
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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
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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.
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Yo La Tengo
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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,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
To me this song has something to do with their previous song "Hometown Heroes; National Nobodies". Maybe then when they weren't really "out there" with their major label (not saying they're sellouts) they were just heroes in their hometown and not worldwide since they weren't that famous. And I guess like the comment before me the ending is somewhat talking about themselves, how they "sold out" in the eyes of most of their old fans, maybe even themselves. But they're "not listening" 'cause they know what they're doing and what they want.