"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.
Everyone's a passenger tonight,
Just another accidental on the freeway of this life.
We'll drive on, and on, and on, and on.
We'll drive on, and on, and-
I'll remember this night when you're gone
You surrender your heart,
I surrender every dream,
Every weapon you've got,
Every secret that I keep,
You can fight this all you want,
But tonight belongs to-
Just another surgery tonight,
Well if you amputate the loneliness,
Anesthesia dims the lights.
So dream on, and on, and on, and on.
So dream on, and on, and-
I'll remember your eyes when you're gone
You surrender your heart,
I surrender every dream,
Every weapon you've got,
Every secret that I keep,
You can fight this all you want,
But tonight belongs to me
And I'll watch you in your sleep
'Cause tonight belongs to me
You can fight this all you want,
But tonight belongs to...
Sparks against the railing,
Distant phantoms wailing.
Through the windshield sailing,
With these airbags failing.
Now you surrender your heart,
I surrender every dream,
Every weapon you've got,
Every secret that I keep,
You can fight this all you want,
But tonight belongs to me
And I'll watch you in your sleep,
You can fight this all you want,
But tonight belongs to me,
But tonight belongs to me,
But tonight belongs to me.
Just another accidental on the freeway of this life.
We'll drive on, and on, and on, and on.
We'll drive on, and on, and-
I'll remember this night when you're gone
You surrender your heart,
I surrender every dream,
Every weapon you've got,
Every secret that I keep,
You can fight this all you want,
But tonight belongs to-
Just another surgery tonight,
Well if you amputate the loneliness,
Anesthesia dims the lights.
So dream on, and on, and on, and on.
So dream on, and on, and-
I'll remember your eyes when you're gone
You surrender your heart,
I surrender every dream,
Every weapon you've got,
Every secret that I keep,
You can fight this all you want,
But tonight belongs to me
And I'll watch you in your sleep
'Cause tonight belongs to me
You can fight this all you want,
But tonight belongs to...
Sparks against the railing,
Distant phantoms wailing.
Through the windshield sailing,
With these airbags failing.
Now you surrender your heart,
I surrender every dream,
Every weapon you've got,
Every secret that I keep,
You can fight this all you want,
But tonight belongs to me
And I'll watch you in your sleep,
You can fight this all you want,
But tonight belongs to me,
But tonight belongs to me,
But tonight belongs to me.
Lyrics submitted by getweird, edited by SmashingDestiny
Surrender the Night Lyrics as written by Gerard Way Michael Way
Lyrics © BLOW THE DOORS OFF CHICAGO
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"
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
Some of the lyrics above are incorrect, but from the actual lyrics, I think this song is about the struggle to find happiness. "We'll drive on and on and on and on" is a metaphor to keep going, and the "accident on the freeway of this life" is all of the problems or possibly depression. The chorus explains how you just need to let go of everything, and how you might "fight this all you want" because lets face it, letting go is hard and terrifying, but is also the only way to cure the issues. "Well if you amputate the loneliness, let anesthesia dim the lights" I really love this line. He has said the same thing that he's been saying for the whole song, to let go. As I listen to it more and more, it sounds like he's singing about depression. I've felt what mild depression feels like and it is absolutley excruciating, and this song helped a lot.
I agree, I feel that Gerard's perspective of life was dirrerent on Conventional Weapons. The whole tone feels like he has said all he wanted to say in the previous 3 albums, and he is now writing in the past tense. This song seems to be saying, this is where i was, but im here now, and as you said, letting go is what got me here.
Everyone's a passenger tonight Just another accident Along the freeway of this life
We drive on and on and on and on We drive on and on and on Remember this night when you're gone
These lines really highlight the meaning of the song to me. I feel it's about he fight for attention but mostly about how people will watch a person self destruct slowly or what not and not do a thing and and how people dont really care about that until your dead (scuicide). In freeway accidents, everyone drives a little slower to take a look at the damage but they dont stop, they dont pull over (mostly b/c they cant but also b/c they dont care enough). People just "drive on" away, uncaring.
the chorus is about at the moment of death, how you become nothing. "Just another surgery tonight Well if you amputate the loneliness Anesthesia dims the lights' is about the trying to get attention. Constant reconstruction of your self or lies and tweaks about your life to get attention and that the only way to get rid of the lonliness is drugs (which leads to eventual scucide/death (od))
yeah and the lyrics are seriously inaccurate