"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.
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
But I can't seem to catch a dime
Take a little hit and I lose the time
I took the man and his horse
And ran before he looked up
I said the light's gonna change
But I'm calm and feeling warm
And now I'm sticking out my hands
And feeling weightless again
You got to push, got to shove
I've got to eat before they eat me
Got the crown and the cup
I've got to write to my family
And say, "I'm calm and feeling warm."
I'm not quite there, but I'm close
And it's a world of a difference
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
But I can't seem to catch a dime
Take a little hit and I lose the time
I've got the worst all behind me
Yeah they'll never be able to find me
I'm the king of the city
I'm a roach and they're all primates
This is meal time
Real life
I'm not gonna fight
No, I'm gonna start a war
I've been right
I've been wrong
My smokes have come and gone
I've been crazy
Been fed enough to not wind up dead
And I'm lonely
My eyes have been closed to the world
'Cause the world's got nothing for me
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
But I can't seem to catch a dime
Take a little hit and I lose the time
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
But I can't seem to catch a dime
Take a little hit and I lose the time
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
But I can't seem to catch a dime
Take a little hit and I lose the time
I took the man and his horse
And ran before he looked up
I said the light's gonna change
But I'm calm and feeling warm
And now I'm sticking out my hands
And feeling weightless again
You got to push, got to shove
I've got to eat before they eat me
Got the crown and the cup
I've got to write to my family
And say, "I'm calm and feeling warm."
I'm not quite there, but I'm close
And it's a world of a difference
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
But I can't seem to catch a dime
Take a little hit and I lose the time
I've got the worst all behind me
Yeah they'll never be able to find me
I'm the king of the city
I'm a roach and they're all primates
This is meal time
Real life
I'm not gonna fight
No, I'm gonna start a war
I've been right
I've been wrong
My smokes have come and gone
I've been crazy
Been fed enough to not wind up dead
And I'm lonely
My eyes have been closed to the world
'Cause the world's got nothing for me
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
But I can't seem to catch a dime
Take a little hit and I lose the time
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
But I can't seem to catch a dime
Take a little hit and I lose the time
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
Yet again, I'm hustling, hustling, hustling
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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 love this song. It's about a drug addict, who's trying to earn money but he can't seem to make enough. He steals money/goods from a man to sell, buys drugs, and that's why he starts feeling weightless, calm, and warm. He has to write a letter to his family claiming that he's feeling okay, even though he's clearly not over his addiction. Basically he's a lonely guy that doesn't see the point of life and doesn't think it has anything to offer him. So he just gets high and forgets about life.
Lol I thought he said awesome instead of hustling
I always sing "i'm awesome" there is definitely an "M" in what he's saying. <br /> love it regardless
That's what my mother thought and I was like :P 'cause it ruined the meaning of the song and like the deeper meanings Foster the People have in their songs.
when i first heard the song i thought it was yeah and im mulslim muslim muslim, and i was like hey, thats is NOT right
@secretdesires I did too. I know what it says but still hear " I am awesome"
Wish they would play this type of music in prom this is the good **** something fun to dance to.
They played the Jonas Brothers at my prom, so I feel ya. but this is good music, therefore no high school would play it at their shitty dance
He IS saying hustling. youtube.com/watch When played live it's pretty obvious.
Although the studio version doesn't sound like hustling AT ALL.
I read on a review that he's singing "Ooh yeah, I'm awesome, awesome, awesome." but I honestly have no idea what it is officially.
he's definately saying hustlin'. the song used to be called hustling and it was changed to life on the nickel. it's about a homeless person. he says so here: youtube.com/watch
singing "then again i'm awesome awesome, then again i'm awesome awesome hell yea i'm awesome" was a lot more fun :P
Yeah I purposely didn't look up the lyrics to this song because I just wanted to think they were saying "Let me get my awesome"... my curiosity finally got the best of me... but it doesn't mean I can't think what I want hahaha. Great song... this album is one of the best I've heard in years...
I thought it was saying "Damn yeah I'm awesome" hahaha
funny how we all hear different things...I couldn't for the life of me make it out until reading the lyrics lol..I thought he was saying in the place of hustling or awesome lol roster..yeah weird...anyways once re-listening to it can totally hear it now. A-lot of there songs do this though... as to meaning totally about addiction agreed!