"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.
She laughed in my face, told me goodbye
Said "Don't think about it, you can go crazy
Anything can happen, anything can end
Don't try to fight it, don't try to save me"
She's a woman in love
She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't want to see
She's a woman in love, but it's not me
Well alright, do what you want
Don't try to talk, don't say nothin'
She used to be the kind of woman
You have and you hold
She could understand the problems
She let the little things go
She's a woman in love
She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't want to know
She's a woman in love, she can't let go
Time after time, night after night
She would look up at me and say she was lonely
I don't understand the world today
I don't understand what she needed
I gave her everything, she threw it all away on nothin'
She's a woman in love
She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't want to see
She's a woman in love, but it's not me
Said "Don't think about it, you can go crazy
Anything can happen, anything can end
Don't try to fight it, don't try to save me"
She's a woman in love
She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't want to see
She's a woman in love, but it's not me
Well alright, do what you want
Don't try to talk, don't say nothin'
She used to be the kind of woman
You have and you hold
She could understand the problems
She let the little things go
She's a woman in love
She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't want to know
She's a woman in love, she can't let go
Time after time, night after night
She would look up at me and say she was lonely
I don't understand the world today
I don't understand what she needed
I gave her everything, she threw it all away on nothin'
She's a woman in love
She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't want to see
She's a woman in love, but it's not me
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
A Woman in Love (It's Not Me) [Live at the Forum, Inglewood, CA, 6/28/81] Lyrics as written by Michael W Campbell Thomas Earl Petty
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Gone Gator Music
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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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”
Holiday
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
When We Were Young
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Punchline
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I imagine that the context of this song involves a breakup and her father (who approved of him) has called him to find out what has happened. That would be who the song is addressed to, explaining that he has done all he could, this new guy she left him for is trouble and there's nothing neither of them can do about it.