"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's pounding on the door
She's crawling on the floor
Oh, she's so coy
She's scratching on the walls
She's clawing at the gauze
She's so coy
She's gnawing on the ropes
She's pulling at the hooks
She's so coy
Oh, you know she wants it
The way that she taunts me
Damn, she's so coy
It's the Apex Predator
With a sermon for the listener
Seduce & Destroy
Your head upon a stick
Would look really sick
But they would call me crazy
For the way I spoke to it
I'd ask about it's day
Did it miss me while I was away?
Tight lipped from the stitches
It wouldn't have much to say
The rest would be kept in a
Tight little dress
Propped up in the corner
A perfect little pet
Locked in a box
So I can keep stock
A trophy to show me
That all is not lost
The writing on the wall
A psalm in napalm
Abandon all hope
But try to stay calm
Bleach to clean the curses
I exist, I'm not the first
Tell my mother I love her
I didn't suffer
Photos & fantasies
Virtuoso of crimes scenes
The Apex Predator
But why does she look so much like me?
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
I gotta satisfy the thirst
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Death is such a flirt
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
You get what you deserve
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Survival of the worst
It's the Apex Predator
I'm the boss
She's got a broken arm
I've got a broken heart
Boy, she's so coy
She made a little fire
With a fork & electrical wire
Damn, she's so coy
Blowtorch nightlight
Switchblade knife fights
FUCK! She's so coy
Thunder in the distance
Gun shots or missiles?
My smile is artificial
The lock clicks, my eyes fix
The writing on the wall
A psalm in napalm
Abandon all hope
But try to stay calm
Bleach to clean the curses
I exist, I'm not the first
Tell my mother I love her
I didn't suffer
No regrets, no apologies
A self-fulfilling prophecy
The Apex Predator
All I could smell was her hair
Burning
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
I gotta satisfy the thirst
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Death is such a flirt
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
You get what you deserve
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Survival of the worst!
But why does she look so much like me?
Like worms on a hook
That were plucked from the
Heart of the bodies of gods
For the wretched & lost
Like worms on a hook
That were plucked from the
Heart of the bodies of gods
That men had forgot
Like worms on a hook
That were plucked from the
Heart of the bodies of gods
That were rotting to DUST!
The Apex Predator
All I could smell was her hair
Burning
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
I gotta satisfy the thirst
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Death is such a flirt
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
You get what you deserve
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Survival of the worst
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
I gotta satisfy the thirst
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Death is such a flirt
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
You get what you deserve
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Survival of the worst!
All I could smell was her hair
All I could smell was her hair
Burning
She's crawling on the floor
Oh, she's so coy
She's scratching on the walls
She's clawing at the gauze
She's so coy
She's gnawing on the ropes
She's pulling at the hooks
She's so coy
Oh, you know she wants it
The way that she taunts me
Damn, she's so coy
It's the Apex Predator
With a sermon for the listener
Seduce & Destroy
Your head upon a stick
Would look really sick
But they would call me crazy
For the way I spoke to it
I'd ask about it's day
Did it miss me while I was away?
Tight lipped from the stitches
It wouldn't have much to say
The rest would be kept in a
Tight little dress
Propped up in the corner
A perfect little pet
Locked in a box
So I can keep stock
A trophy to show me
That all is not lost
The writing on the wall
A psalm in napalm
Abandon all hope
But try to stay calm
Bleach to clean the curses
I exist, I'm not the first
Tell my mother I love her
I didn't suffer
Photos & fantasies
Virtuoso of crimes scenes
The Apex Predator
But why does she look so much like me?
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
I gotta satisfy the thirst
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Death is such a flirt
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
You get what you deserve
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Survival of the worst
It's the Apex Predator
I'm the boss
She's got a broken arm
I've got a broken heart
Boy, she's so coy
She made a little fire
With a fork & electrical wire
Damn, she's so coy
Blowtorch nightlight
Switchblade knife fights
FUCK! She's so coy
Thunder in the distance
Gun shots or missiles?
My smile is artificial
The lock clicks, my eyes fix
The writing on the wall
A psalm in napalm
Abandon all hope
But try to stay calm
Bleach to clean the curses
I exist, I'm not the first
Tell my mother I love her
I didn't suffer
No regrets, no apologies
A self-fulfilling prophecy
The Apex Predator
All I could smell was her hair
Burning
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
I gotta satisfy the thirst
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Death is such a flirt
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
You get what you deserve
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Survival of the worst!
But why does she look so much like me?
Like worms on a hook
That were plucked from the
Heart of the bodies of gods
For the wretched & lost
Like worms on a hook
That were plucked from the
Heart of the bodies of gods
That men had forgot
Like worms on a hook
That were plucked from the
Heart of the bodies of gods
That were rotting to DUST!
The Apex Predator
All I could smell was her hair
Burning
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
I gotta satisfy the thirst
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Death is such a flirt
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
You get what you deserve
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Survival of the worst
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
I gotta satisfy the thirst
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Death is such a flirt
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
You get what you deserve
Nobody move, nobody gets hurt
But where's the fun in that
Survival of the worst!
All I could smell was her hair
All I could smell was her hair
Burning
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.