"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.
That boy take me away into the night
Out of the hum of the street lights and into a forest
I'll do whatever you say to me in the dark
Scared I'll be torn apart by a wolf in mask
Of a familiar name on a birthday card
Blow out all the candles
Blow out all the candles
"You're too old to be so shy"
He says to me so I stay the night
Just a young heart confusing my mind
But we're both in silence
Wide-eyed, both in silence
Wide-eyed, like we're in a crime scene
Well, I have brittle bones it seems
I bite my tongue and I torch my dreams
Have a little voice to speak with
And a mind of thoughts and secrecy
Things cannot be reversed
We learn from the times that we are cursed
Things cannot be reversed
Learn from the ones we fear the worst
And learn from the ones we hate the most how to
Blow out all the candles
Blow out all the candles
"You're too old to be so shy"
He says to me so I stay the night
Just a young heart confusing my mind
But we're both in silence
Wide-eyed, both in silence
Wide-eyed
'Cause we both know
I'll never be your lover
I only bring the heat
Company under cover
Filling space in your sheets
Well, I'll never be a lover
I only bring the heat
Company under cover
Filling space in your sheets
In your sheets
So, please just blow out all the candles
Blow out all the candles
"You're too old to be so shy,"
He says to me so I stay the night
It's just a young heart confusing my mind
But we're both in silence
Wide-eyed, both in silence
Wide-eyed, like we're in a crime scene
Out of the hum of the street lights and into a forest
I'll do whatever you say to me in the dark
Scared I'll be torn apart by a wolf in mask
Of a familiar name on a birthday card
Blow out all the candles
Blow out all the candles
"You're too old to be so shy"
He says to me so I stay the night
Just a young heart confusing my mind
But we're both in silence
Wide-eyed, both in silence
Wide-eyed, like we're in a crime scene
Well, I have brittle bones it seems
I bite my tongue and I torch my dreams
Have a little voice to speak with
And a mind of thoughts and secrecy
Things cannot be reversed
We learn from the times that we are cursed
Things cannot be reversed
Learn from the ones we fear the worst
And learn from the ones we hate the most how to
Blow out all the candles
Blow out all the candles
"You're too old to be so shy"
He says to me so I stay the night
Just a young heart confusing my mind
But we're both in silence
Wide-eyed, both in silence
Wide-eyed
'Cause we both know
I'll never be your lover
I only bring the heat
Company under cover
Filling space in your sheets
Well, I'll never be a lover
I only bring the heat
Company under cover
Filling space in your sheets
In your sheets
So, please just blow out all the candles
Blow out all the candles
"You're too old to be so shy,"
He says to me so I stay the night
It's just a young heart confusing my mind
But we're both in silence
Wide-eyed, both in silence
Wide-eyed, like we're in a crime scene
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.
I think this song is about the emotional contemplation of a person about to have their first casual sex, and the fear of not being approved of by their own morals and the morals of her family. I also think this person starts to feel emotions to this boy that she souldn't have, because she knows it's just casual. So... here it goes.
"That boy, take me away, into the night. Out of the hum of the street lights and into a forest. I'll do, what ever you say, to me in the dark." -She meets a boy, And even though it's usually the man convincing the women to have intercourse, I feel this doesn't apply here. The reason I think this is because she says "Take me away" and "I'll do whatever you say". Personally i think that she is throwing herself at him.
"Scared i'll be torn apart by a wolf in mask of familiar name on a birthday card." -This is where I think she is pondering "What would my family think of this?" because she says "By a familiar name on a birthday card" as in someone in her family is going to reprimand her for this.
"Blow out all the candles, blow out all the candles. 'You're too old to be so shy he says to me so I stay the night." -She says 'blow out all the candles' because candles signify romance, And she knows this is just casual sex. When the boy says 'You're too old to be so shy' I think that she started second guessing herself and he was basically saying 'grow up, you're going to be fine' just in more of a romantic way..
"Just a young heart, confusing my mind But we're both in silence. Wide-eyed X2. Like we're in a crime scene." -Here she is trying to convince herself that it doesn't mean anything, that it's just sex. But then she thinks that it must be more, because of the beauty and emotion of the moment when they are staring into eachothers eyes. The 'Like we're at a crime scene' part is her feeling guilty and knowing that she, and her family, would not approve.
"'Cause I have brittle bones it seems I bite my tongue and i touch my dreams." -This I think is her describing the sex they finally have. How she felt so fragile in the arms of this man.
"Have a little voice to speak with, and a mind of thoughts and secrecy" -This is the aftermath, And she's thinking about how much this person affected her, but she couldn't tell him because it was supposed to be just casual, but she cannot stop herself from feeling something more.
"Things cannot be reversed Learn from the times that we are cursed Things cannot be reversed." -This is her regretting being with him. She is saying things cannot be reversed, but if she could, she would go back and not do it. The part about being cursed is her knowing that her family wouldnt approve and that she is cursed with the obligation of keeping the secret, but the least she can do is learn from it.
"Learn from the ones we fear the worst And learn from the ones we hate the most." -She is saying again to learn from this situation. To learn from her family that she fears she will not receive approval from. and learn from this boy that she now despises.
The Chorus repeats
"'Cause we both know i'll never be your lover I only bring the heat. Company under covers. Filling space in your sheets." -All of these lines are her recognizing that this can only be tonight, no more.
Then the chorus repeats.