"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.
Nah, you don't know me
Lightning above and a fire below me
You cannot catch me, cannot hold me
You cannot stop, much less control me
When it rains, it pours, when the floodgates open brace your shores
That pressure don't care when it breaks your doors
Say it's all you can take, better take some more
(Oh)
'Cause I know what it's like to test fate
Had my shoulders pressed with that weight
Stood up strong in spite of that hate
(Oh)
Night gets darkest right before dawn
What don't kill you makes you more strong
And I been waiting for it so long
The nights go on
Waiting for a light that never comes
I chase the sun
Waiting for a light that never comes
Oh
Oh
Oh
Waiting for a light that never comes
When I was young, they told me, they said
Make your bed, you lie in that bed
A king can only reign 'til instead
There comes that day it's "off with his head"
(Oh)
The night gets darkest right before dawn
What don't kill you makes you more strong
You'll have my mercy then when you're gone
The nights go on
Waiting for a light that never comes
I chase the sun
Waiting for a light that never comes
Oh
Oh
Oh
Waiting for a light that never comes
And I told them, nah, you don't know me
Lightning above and a fire below me
You cannot catch me, cannot hold me
You cannot stop, much less control me
When it rains, it pours
When the floodgates open, brace your shores
That pressure don't care, it breaks your doors
Say it's all you can take, better take some more
Oh
Oh
Oh
Waiting for a light that never comes
The nights go on
Waiting for a light that never comes
I chase the sun
Waiting for a light that never comes
Oh
Oh
Oh
Waiting for a light that never comes
Lightning above and a fire below me
You cannot catch me, cannot hold me
You cannot stop, much less control me
When it rains, it pours, when the floodgates open brace your shores
That pressure don't care when it breaks your doors
Say it's all you can take, better take some more
(Oh)
'Cause I know what it's like to test fate
Had my shoulders pressed with that weight
Stood up strong in spite of that hate
(Oh)
Night gets darkest right before dawn
What don't kill you makes you more strong
And I been waiting for it so long
The nights go on
Waiting for a light that never comes
I chase the sun
Waiting for a light that never comes
Oh
Oh
Oh
Waiting for a light that never comes
When I was young, they told me, they said
Make your bed, you lie in that bed
A king can only reign 'til instead
There comes that day it's "off with his head"
(Oh)
The night gets darkest right before dawn
What don't kill you makes you more strong
You'll have my mercy then when you're gone
The nights go on
Waiting for a light that never comes
I chase the sun
Waiting for a light that never comes
Oh
Oh
Oh
Waiting for a light that never comes
And I told them, nah, you don't know me
Lightning above and a fire below me
You cannot catch me, cannot hold me
You cannot stop, much less control me
When it rains, it pours
When the floodgates open, brace your shores
That pressure don't care, it breaks your doors
Say it's all you can take, better take some more
Oh
Oh
Oh
Waiting for a light that never comes
The nights go on
Waiting for a light that never comes
I chase the sun
Waiting for a light that never comes
Oh
Oh
Oh
Waiting for a light that never comes
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
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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
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.
To me, this song is talking about a victim of domestic or child abuse. The singer is trying to all he can to survive the hell he's going through, trying to make sure the abuser can't catch him and break him.
He is doing the best he can, holding strong, while the situation is getting worse. He knows the situation is getting worse, the night getting darker and darker. All he can do is wait for the dawn, maybe his escape from the abusive situation or maybe he'll be an adult soon and can leave.
Stood up strong in spite of that hate Night gets darkest right before dawn What don't kill you makes you more strong And I been waiting for it so long
It's in the chorus that he realize that no matter how strong he is, he'll never live through the abuse he's forced to endure. There will be no dawn for him, only a trip into eternal darkness.
The nights go on Waiting for a light that never comes I chase the sun Waiting for a light that never comes
He remembers when he was smaller that a king only rules until it's "off with his head". His abusers have made their bed, now it's their turn to lie in it. He decides that that is what he'll do. If he's to die, he'll take his abusers with him. So I think it changes in the next verses. This time he's telling his abusers that THEIR night will always last and THEIR light will never come.
The night gets darkest right before dawn What don't kill you makes you more strong You'll have my mercy then when you're gone
He'll never find his light in this life and he'll make sure his abusers won't be alive to be able to do so either.