"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.
Let me see you go back (move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H)
Let me see you come forth
Now let me see you go back (move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H)
Let me see you come forth, uh
Let me see you go back (move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H)
Let me see you come forth, uh
Let me see you go back (move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H)
Let me see you come forth, yeah
It's Friday (hey) and I'm ready to swing
Pick up my girls and hit the party scene
Tonight, oh, it's alright
So get up and let this funky mellow groove
Get you in the mood
'Cause you know it's alright, yeah
So Mister DJ, keep the music groovin' (keep on groovin')
Don't stop movin' (don't stop movin')
Let me see you, let me see you go
Back, back, forth and forth (go back, let me see you go)
Back, back, forth and forth (alright, I wanna see you go)
Back, back, forth and forth (come on, let me see you go)
Back, back, forth and forth (see you go back and forth)
Now's the time for you to make your move
To the dance floor (oh)
So throw your hands in the air (yeah)
And wave 'em round like you just don't care (wow), yeah
Ooh, it's the L-I-Y-A-H? Rippin' up the stage
I got jazz personality, G mentality, beats to Soul Train
So Mister DJ, keep the music groovin' (keep on groovin')
Don't stop movin'
Now let me see you back and forth, back and forth
Back, back, forth and forth (oh-ooh)
Back, back, forth and forth (oh-ooh)
Back, back, forth and forth (back, back, forth and forth)
Back, back, forth and forth (come on and let me see you go)
Hey, here's the formality, get up on the floor you see
Show your personality, be who you want to be
Tell me
So can you feel the groove movin' way down to you?
Hey, I wanna keep this party goin' on all night
So Mister DJ, keep the music groovin' (keep on groovin')
Don't stop movin' (don't stop movin')
Now let me see you go back and forth, back and forth
Back, back, forth and forth (alright, let me see you go)
Back, back, forth and forth (go back, back, forth and forth)
Back, back, forth and forth (bring it back, take it forth)
Back, back, forth and forth (alright)
Back, back, forth and forth
Back, back, forth and forth
Back, back, forth and forth
Back, back, forth and forth
Let me see you go
Move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H
Move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H
Move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H
Move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H
(Back, back, forth and forth) move, it' the L-I-Y-A-H
Let me see you come forth
Now let me see you go back (move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H)
Let me see you come forth, uh
Let me see you go back (move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H)
Let me see you come forth, uh
Let me see you go back (move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H)
Let me see you come forth, yeah
It's Friday (hey) and I'm ready to swing
Pick up my girls and hit the party scene
Tonight, oh, it's alright
So get up and let this funky mellow groove
Get you in the mood
'Cause you know it's alright, yeah
So Mister DJ, keep the music groovin' (keep on groovin')
Don't stop movin' (don't stop movin')
Let me see you, let me see you go
Back, back, forth and forth (go back, let me see you go)
Back, back, forth and forth (alright, I wanna see you go)
Back, back, forth and forth (come on, let me see you go)
Back, back, forth and forth (see you go back and forth)
Now's the time for you to make your move
To the dance floor (oh)
So throw your hands in the air (yeah)
And wave 'em round like you just don't care (wow), yeah
Ooh, it's the L-I-Y-A-H? Rippin' up the stage
I got jazz personality, G mentality, beats to Soul Train
So Mister DJ, keep the music groovin' (keep on groovin')
Don't stop movin'
Now let me see you back and forth, back and forth
Back, back, forth and forth (oh-ooh)
Back, back, forth and forth (oh-ooh)
Back, back, forth and forth (back, back, forth and forth)
Back, back, forth and forth (come on and let me see you go)
Hey, here's the formality, get up on the floor you see
Show your personality, be who you want to be
Tell me
So can you feel the groove movin' way down to you?
Hey, I wanna keep this party goin' on all night
So Mister DJ, keep the music groovin' (keep on groovin')
Don't stop movin' (don't stop movin')
Now let me see you go back and forth, back and forth
Back, back, forth and forth (alright, let me see you go)
Back, back, forth and forth (go back, back, forth and forth)
Back, back, forth and forth (bring it back, take it forth)
Back, back, forth and forth (alright)
Back, back, forth and forth
Back, back, forth and forth
Back, back, forth and forth
Back, back, forth and forth
Let me see you go
Move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H
Move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H
Move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H
Move, it's the L-I-Y-A-H
(Back, back, forth and forth) move, it' the L-I-Y-A-H
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Back & Forth Lyrics as written by David Lee Spradley Bernard Worrell
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Word Collections Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
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"
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.