"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.
Well you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go
Staring at the bottom of your glass
Hoping one day you'll make a dream last
But dreams come slow and they go so fast
You see her when you close your eyes
Maybe one day you'll understand why
Everything you touch surely dies
But you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
Staring at the ceiling in the dark
Same old empty feeling in your heart
'Cause love comes slow and it goes so fast
Well you see her when you fall asleep
But never to touch and never to keep
'Cause you loved her too much and you dive too deep
Well you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go
Oh oh oh no
And you let her go
Oh oh oh no
Well you let her go
'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go
Staring at the bottom of your glass
Hoping one day you'll make a dream last
But dreams come slow and they go so fast
You see her when you close your eyes
Maybe one day you'll understand why
Everything you touch surely dies
But you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
Staring at the ceiling in the dark
Same old empty feeling in your heart
'Cause love comes slow and it goes so fast
Well you see her when you fall asleep
But never to touch and never to keep
'Cause you loved her too much and you dive too deep
Well you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go
Oh oh oh no
And you let her go
Oh oh oh no
Well you let her go
'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
'Cause you only need the light when it's burning low
Only miss the sun when it starts to snow
Only know you love her when you let her go
Only know you've been high when you're feeling low
Only hate the road when you're missing home
Only know you love her when you let her go
And you let her go
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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"
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
I heard this song on the radio for the first time today. I like to think of the backstory like this - it's about a guy who breaks up with his lover because he doesn't have the ability to recognize that he has something special with her, and he doesn't have the courage to stay in the relationship when she starts asking for a commitment from him. So he lets her go, because he feels incapable of giving himself over to what has actually become real love. The line, "Maybe one day you'll understand why everything you touch, surely dies" speaks to this guy's chronic inability to return love and form a deep bond with someone else. It may be that his ideals of love are actually unrealistic ("Hoping one day you'll make a dream last"), and he keeps choosing to let love go because he doesn't understand that love can be a messy and difficult thing worth fighting for. But ultimately, this song is about the regret of only realising after breaking things off that he truly loved her. And of course, by the time he realises this, it will have been too late to get her back - she will have moved on to someone who can reciprocate her love. This kind of stuff is pure tragedy.
Thank you for this interpretation. <br /> sadly, I know what this is about.
I agree; it is pure tragedy. Loss and regret to music. It is beautifully done.
Keliyah... I'm so glad that you decided to add your interpretation. You articulated it so well and I think you are spot-on. One thing to add... It is possible that he is the victim of the unrequited love and is actually regretting that she didn't value and commit to him, rather than the other way around. Cheers!
Well... this story is exactly what happened to me. <br /> <br /> I heard this song yesterday for the first time and I was in shock. I've used to have a loved one, the mother of my little girl. But I considered myself not enough strong for her. I've got my lots of life issues and still deal with my demons. I considered I was not happy, this feeling had an impact on my loved ones. <br /> <br /> I wanted her to be happy, so I let her go. <br /> <br /> She need a man, someone who can warm his heart. Someone who know what real love is. She deserved this, she deserve to be loved and live happy. She's the greatest woman on earth.<br /> <br /> We are now separated since January, still we are best friends for the rest of our life and we keep an excellent relationship, it's important for our little girl. <br /> <br /> Now, I know what I've lost.<br /> <br /> I don't know what I need right now, she is now with someone who love her with passion, it make me happy. I saw her today, she was smilling. <br /> <br /> As for me, only god know.<br />
@Keliyah - great interpretation, I'm learning this on the guitar albeit very slowly ;) It resonates a lot with me and a beautiful lady I've lost and who I love with all my heart and with whom I didn't have the courage to forget all the practicalities of life, and just lover her.
This to me, is obviously a breakup song.
He is remembering her now that they are no longer together. He realizes he loved her, while he was maybe unsure or didn't realize it while they were still a couple.
There is a lot of truth to this song, since a lot of people don't realize they were really in love until after it is over. We miss what we no longer have. Sometimes in relationships, people take significant things for granted until it's too late to go back.
He is taking responsibility for the relationship ending with lines like: And you let her go
Maybe one day you'll understand why Everything you touch, oh it dies
You don't truly know happiness until you've seen the pits of despair. I thought he was singing "You only know your lover when you let her go" which also makes some sense. It seems you learn a lot about someone during the breakup period too. Sometimes it's even more telling than the relationship itself.
The song alludes to the fact the protagonist is still reeling from the breakup. It's fresh because he has an attitude that paints the relationship as better than perhaps it really was. People have a tendency to idealize the past.
Living life with regret.
I think it is pretty self explanatory, but this song is is the whole "you don't know/realize what you've got till it's gone" thing.
"Only know you love her when you let her go. And you let her go."
Relationships are tough. You can start to feel as though things have gotten stagnant, or that you've lost feelings for the other person. Sometimes we think that the best action to take is to just 'get out'. However, it's only once you've left that person that you realize just how strong your feelings for them really are, how much you really miss them, how much you really love them.
You might realize this quickly, or you might not. The song is about living life with regret.
You wont know how good it was until to late, when its gone - very true and something most people felt im sure. But, gone here could mean break up or even death, the song never reveals... still the lyric is cryptic about who is in fact letting this go, does he break up from dissapoinment or did she let him go and in lack of action he just lets her go instead of fighting for it.. But it could be also that loss puts you inthis state the lyric describes and the message 'let her go' simply means that you have to try to carry on because the pain lingers on
The best interpretation I've heard in my life...!
When you let her go you finally realized how important she was in your life. You let something great go because you were scared and to proud to admit the way you felt. Don't let her go.
<3
@wrily4 <br /> That's sweet ❤️and it's true
The songs is simple and easy to understand but so deep and powerful for everyone who ever live a situation like that.
@colorkey <br /> <br /> >3<br /> True hey it even hurts
Dissection create choppy sentences.
The feeling is pure as white linen. Its a beautiful feeling without distraction. I want to make love to the one who returns home from war. It is when you have been abused. It is emotional deprivation. It is the yearn of the one you love who doesn't love you back. It is the rainbow to my soul.
I put my dog down tonight. This was the first song that came on in the car on the way home. From now it it will always remind me of my best friend and the most loving soul I have ever met.
Im so sorry. just had to put my horse, Missy, down about three weeks ago. I love her so much my baby, I love u forever Miss! ur the most beautiful mare ive ever known and no matter what youll always be my girl! ur the sassiest, sweetest and most gentle mare ive ever known! life is hard without u but I know ur not suffering anymore and were always together forever!
@jollyjee That is so bittersweet and painfully beautiful... I can relate to it completely.
Person (in this case a guy) took his girlfriend/wife for granted.
After she is gone he can now appreciate what he ONCE had. "Only know you love her when you let her go"
Well you only need the light when it's burning low “You only need something when you’re running low of it”
You only miss the sun because the snow makes everything cold and dull "Only miss the sun when it starts to snow"
You once had it all and after you don’t have anything you can then see what was one there "Only know you've been high when you're feeling low"
Generally, most people enjoy travelling or driving around but once you’re sick of it or start hating it, one obviously starts missing home. "Only hate the road when you're missing home"
These lyrics fit my 'current relationship' so well. So touching.