"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.
Yo, it's 3:25 in the morning
My baby mom still yawning
Kiss my little daughter on the forehead
'Nuf said, beeper goes off
Five hundred, it's Busta Bust
In God We Trust another one bites the dust
Hey Ramp, fuck that!
I was 'bout to see this cat
Some niggas pulled up in a black suburban jumped out the back
Tried to put it on me while we fighting over the gat
The way them niggas tried to play me son, them niggas is wack
Aeiyo, Ramp, yo, you know it's only right to react
Call the whole squad, let's lay these niggas down, face flat
Aeiyo, Bust, chill, calm down
I'll be there in twenty minutes
Uptown 1-51 at St. Nick
I'm there quick
I tell my baby mom I got's to go
I walked out the do' then grabbed the two nines out the flo'
Driving through South, yo, we takin' niggas to war
Still on the run
Always running for cover when its necessary
I'm out numbered for now
But all that shit is temporary
Fuck with the wrong clik, the way we get down
If you're violatin', leavin you lost, you never be found
Number whatever on missing persons
Any minute them niggas gon' feel blast of my squads gats bursting
I through the tri-borough bridge
In my fat land with my two nines and my mans
I'mma second from the spot
I cross the street from the parking lot
My trigger finger is hot
I'm seeing Bust in a phone booth
Niggas on the roofs
Spiff Star is in the range
The atmosphere change
Lord's in the forerunner with machine guns, big ones
Now we 'bout to have mad fun
Me and the whole squad meet up
Know shit about to heat up
Wet the whole entire street up
Blast from the car seat-er
My enemies wouldn't even wanna be you
I see you, hunting me down
I knowing that my crew arrive
We gon' see who be the last alive
While we creep all over the place
Looking for space
In case, see him, rinse my whole clip up in his face
As my squad hold they post down
We patiently waiting for them to pass through
Carefully timing the way we put it on their whole crew
Aeiyo, Bust give me the queue
I'm here for you, close to you
Blood in and blood out
We goin' all out, bullets just ringing out
Guns is just spraying out
Yo Bust, hit the dirt layflat
You my nigga to the end I gotcha back
Turn around quick
Oh shit!
He started blasting, grazed me on the hip
Lord Have Mercy dumped five on a nigga
Suck his whole shit, his whole crew busting
Shit ain't going according to plan
Goddamn, my shit jam
Nigga standing right behind me
I think I'm caught up on a creep
I think I need to prayer to Lord, my soul to keep
Dis nigga about to fry my head
My crew burst into a rage
Spliff lifted this nigga, putting two inside his rib cage
Yo, Rampage
Aeiyo, I see them niggas coming, now I'm dumbing
We dead three niggas already the next two we leaving bloody
So much drama over this fucking money
The way this situation end it wasn't even funny
Trying to rob this nigga because I was fucking hungry
But if you try to test let's blast a nigga in a hurry
Me and my squad bounce and left the fucking scene ugly
Things we be doin' for money
Livin' in the street when you're hungry
The way you start to live it ain't funny, no, no
Living day to day but don't live for tomorrow
Things we be doin' for money
Livin' in the street when you're hungry
The way you start to live it ain't funny, no, no
Living day to day but don't live for tomorrow
Things we be doin' for money
Livin' in the street when you're hungry
The way you start to live it ain't funny, no, no
Living day to day but don't live for tomorrow
My baby mom still yawning
Kiss my little daughter on the forehead
'Nuf said, beeper goes off
Five hundred, it's Busta Bust
In God We Trust another one bites the dust
Hey Ramp, fuck that!
I was 'bout to see this cat
Some niggas pulled up in a black suburban jumped out the back
Tried to put it on me while we fighting over the gat
The way them niggas tried to play me son, them niggas is wack
Aeiyo, Ramp, yo, you know it's only right to react
Call the whole squad, let's lay these niggas down, face flat
Aeiyo, Bust, chill, calm down
I'll be there in twenty minutes
Uptown 1-51 at St. Nick
I'm there quick
I tell my baby mom I got's to go
I walked out the do' then grabbed the two nines out the flo'
Driving through South, yo, we takin' niggas to war
Still on the run
Always running for cover when its necessary
I'm out numbered for now
But all that shit is temporary
Fuck with the wrong clik, the way we get down
If you're violatin', leavin you lost, you never be found
Number whatever on missing persons
Any minute them niggas gon' feel blast of my squads gats bursting
I through the tri-borough bridge
In my fat land with my two nines and my mans
I'mma second from the spot
I cross the street from the parking lot
My trigger finger is hot
I'm seeing Bust in a phone booth
Niggas on the roofs
Spiff Star is in the range
The atmosphere change
Lord's in the forerunner with machine guns, big ones
Now we 'bout to have mad fun
Me and the whole squad meet up
Know shit about to heat up
Wet the whole entire street up
Blast from the car seat-er
My enemies wouldn't even wanna be you
I see you, hunting me down
I knowing that my crew arrive
We gon' see who be the last alive
While we creep all over the place
Looking for space
In case, see him, rinse my whole clip up in his face
As my squad hold they post down
We patiently waiting for them to pass through
Carefully timing the way we put it on their whole crew
Aeiyo, Bust give me the queue
I'm here for you, close to you
Blood in and blood out
We goin' all out, bullets just ringing out
Guns is just spraying out
Yo Bust, hit the dirt layflat
You my nigga to the end I gotcha back
Turn around quick
Oh shit!
He started blasting, grazed me on the hip
Lord Have Mercy dumped five on a nigga
Suck his whole shit, his whole crew busting
Shit ain't going according to plan
Goddamn, my shit jam
Nigga standing right behind me
I think I'm caught up on a creep
I think I need to prayer to Lord, my soul to keep
Dis nigga about to fry my head
My crew burst into a rage
Spliff lifted this nigga, putting two inside his rib cage
Yo, Rampage
Aeiyo, I see them niggas coming, now I'm dumbing
We dead three niggas already the next two we leaving bloody
So much drama over this fucking money
The way this situation end it wasn't even funny
Trying to rob this nigga because I was fucking hungry
But if you try to test let's blast a nigga in a hurry
Me and my squad bounce and left the fucking scene ugly
Things we be doin' for money
Livin' in the street when you're hungry
The way you start to live it ain't funny, no, no
Living day to day but don't live for tomorrow
Things we be doin' for money
Livin' in the street when you're hungry
The way you start to live it ain't funny, no, no
Living day to day but don't live for tomorrow
Things we be doin' for money
Livin' in the street when you're hungry
The way you start to live it ain't funny, no, no
Living day to day but don't live for tomorrow
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Things We Be Doin' for Money, Pt. 2 Lyrics as written by Osten S Harvey Osten Harvey
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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.
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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,
Amazing
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Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Plastic Bag
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.