"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.
Don't wake me up, I'm winning wars inside my head
And maybe I'm weak but not beneath the covers of this bed
Asleep, I'm undefeated in this world of mine
So let me stay inside this dream and keep me from the light
I've built this place behind my eyes you'll never see
And you can move my body but please keep my mind asleep
Beyond the galaxies where there's no space or time
I will transform, I am reborn to rule over the skies.
[Chorus]
I, I feel it in my bones
Escape the world I know,
It's all in my control
I just wanna stay this way
Blood pumping in my veins
I feel it, I feel it
I, I just wanna stay this way
Blood pumping in my veins
I feel it, I feel it
Behind the darkness there's a sea of neon light
And maybe you think I'm seeking but you just can't get inside
Don't try to save me when my mind is finally free
Cause I'd rather run my own world than face your reality
It's not enough for me to paint with black and white
And inside my head there are shades of red unknown to waking life
You think you've traveled far and never seen the stars
Cause the only the way is if I say you can follow me that far
And maybe I'm weak but not beneath the covers of this bed
Asleep, I'm undefeated in this world of mine
So let me stay inside this dream and keep me from the light
I've built this place behind my eyes you'll never see
And you can move my body but please keep my mind asleep
Beyond the galaxies where there's no space or time
I will transform, I am reborn to rule over the skies.
[Chorus]
I, I feel it in my bones
Escape the world I know,
It's all in my control
I just wanna stay this way
Blood pumping in my veins
I feel it, I feel it
I, I just wanna stay this way
Blood pumping in my veins
I feel it, I feel it
Behind the darkness there's a sea of neon light
And maybe you think I'm seeking but you just can't get inside
Don't try to save me when my mind is finally free
Cause I'd rather run my own world than face your reality
It's not enough for me to paint with black and white
And inside my head there are shades of red unknown to waking life
You think you've traveled far and never seen the stars
Cause the only the way is if I say you can follow me that far
Lyrics submitted by BlinkMM182, edited by AntonTell
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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.
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.
I think this is a song about a lover whose relationship with another has collapsed, and that person was heartbroken and destroyed emotionally in real life, but can picture a world in which this person can simply revert to being a human, and it shows that the relationship does not matter because she is free of him in her own mind, and whatever he does does not change her freedom, which in this case, is dominant over love.