"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.
It's just the world, that's all it is
Toppling through outer space on a trip
It's just the world, big and round, now isn't it?
Some kind of tropical fish in a tropical storm
We dig a blade in the ribcage of an ice age
And we twist until it's warm
You know it's just the world (it was only Rome)
Trying to be something with an original spin
An unoriginal sin
(I've sinned before)
Just with a bottle of gin, oh no
Whoa, and the girl next door
I think it's spinnin' for mine, you think it's spinnin' for yours
It's spinnin' for sure, but if it's spinnin' for neither
Then really, can either of us be sure
Just what it's spinnin' for?
Oh yeah, it's just the world trying to be somethin'
Another Byzantine or Palestinian
But with original spin, my friend
An unoriginal sin
Oh look, I'm sinning again
Another bottle of gin, a-ha
And my baby cakes
I think it's spinnin' for mine, you think it's spinnin' for yours
It's spinnin' for sure, but if it's spinnin' for neither
Then really can either of us be sure
Just what it's spinnin' for?
Oh yeah, it's just the world (oh yeah)
A little place in outer space on a trip
It's just the world, where you're swimming or sinking
Makin' a bed, layin' in it, never to stop and think
It might be spinnin' for Providence
Really it ain't
No, really it ain't, I know it's nice to say
I think it's spinnin' for mine, you think it's spinnin' for yours
It's spinnin' for sure, I think it's spinnin' for fun, fun, fu-fu-fun
It must be fun to make ol' Mother Earth shake
It's just the world, it's just the world
It's just the world
It's just the world
Toppling through outer space on a trip
It's just the world, big and round, now isn't it?
Some kind of tropical fish in a tropical storm
We dig a blade in the ribcage of an ice age
And we twist until it's warm
You know it's just the world (it was only Rome)
Trying to be something with an original spin
An unoriginal sin
(I've sinned before)
Just with a bottle of gin, oh no
Whoa, and the girl next door
I think it's spinnin' for mine, you think it's spinnin' for yours
It's spinnin' for sure, but if it's spinnin' for neither
Then really, can either of us be sure
Just what it's spinnin' for?
Oh yeah, it's just the world trying to be somethin'
Another Byzantine or Palestinian
But with original spin, my friend
An unoriginal sin
Oh look, I'm sinning again
Another bottle of gin, a-ha
And my baby cakes
I think it's spinnin' for mine, you think it's spinnin' for yours
It's spinnin' for sure, but if it's spinnin' for neither
Then really can either of us be sure
Just what it's spinnin' for?
Oh yeah, it's just the world (oh yeah)
A little place in outer space on a trip
It's just the world, where you're swimming or sinking
Makin' a bed, layin' in it, never to stop and think
It might be spinnin' for Providence
Really it ain't
No, really it ain't, I know it's nice to say
I think it's spinnin' for mine, you think it's spinnin' for yours
It's spinnin' for sure, I think it's spinnin' for fun, fun, fu-fu-fun
It must be fun to make ol' Mother Earth shake
It's just the world, it's just the world
It's just the world
It's just the world
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
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
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
This song is about how people attempt to definitively attribute reasons to why we exist (why the world spins), when there's no way to know this for sure. Ryan seems to believe it spins for no reason in particular (just for fun).
We're not here for a reason, we're just here: don't search for a reason that doesn't exist, just enjoy life.
Furthermore, the imagery in the song seems aimed at highlighting the beauty in our inherently pointless world.