"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.
I'd be ridin' in a cab goin' downtown
Findin' faces I know in a big crowd
Tryin' to drink the pain away, mhmm
And I'd be stayin' out all night, never goin' home
Girl you know I'd lose all control
If I lost you
There would be a riot
Breakin' up my heart, I'd try to fight it
I could go out every night but I'd be lyin'
If I said I could live and breathe
Without you
There'd be a lot of lonely
Wishin' and prayin' that you would hold me
I would do most anything baby
If only you would come back to me
Come back to me
There would be a riot
Oh yeah, oooh
I'd be checkin' on my phone every minute
Waitin' 'round for it to start ringin'
And prayin' it would be you
I don't know what I'd do
There would be a riot
Breakin' up my heart, I'd try to fight it
I could go out every night but I'd be lyin'
If I said I could live and breathe
Without you
There'd be a lot of lonely
Wishin' and prayin' that you would hold me
I would do most anything baby if only
You would come back to me
Come back to me
There would be a riot
If I ever lost you
If I ever lost you
There would be a riot
Breakin' up my heart, I'd try to fight it
I could go out every night but I'd be lyin'
If I said I could live and breathe
There'd be a lot of lonely
Wishin' and prayin' that you would hold me
I would do most anything baby if only
You would come back to me
Come back to me
There would be a riot
If I ever lost you
There would be, there would be a riot
Breakin' up my heart, I'd try to fight it
There would be a riot
If I ever lost you
Findin' faces I know in a big crowd
Tryin' to drink the pain away, mhmm
And I'd be stayin' out all night, never goin' home
Girl you know I'd lose all control
If I lost you
There would be a riot
Breakin' up my heart, I'd try to fight it
I could go out every night but I'd be lyin'
If I said I could live and breathe
Without you
There'd be a lot of lonely
Wishin' and prayin' that you would hold me
I would do most anything baby
If only you would come back to me
Come back to me
There would be a riot
Oh yeah, oooh
I'd be checkin' on my phone every minute
Waitin' 'round for it to start ringin'
And prayin' it would be you
I don't know what I'd do
There would be a riot
Breakin' up my heart, I'd try to fight it
I could go out every night but I'd be lyin'
If I said I could live and breathe
Without you
There'd be a lot of lonely
Wishin' and prayin' that you would hold me
I would do most anything baby if only
You would come back to me
Come back to me
There would be a riot
If I ever lost you
If I ever lost you
There would be a riot
Breakin' up my heart, I'd try to fight it
I could go out every night but I'd be lyin'
If I said I could live and breathe
There'd be a lot of lonely
Wishin' and prayin' that you would hold me
I would do most anything baby if only
You would come back to me
Come back to me
There would be a riot
If I ever lost you
There would be, there would be a riot
Breakin' up my heart, I'd try to fight it
There would be a riot
If I ever lost you
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
I love this song so much! I can listen to it for long periods of time and always feel pain each time. This song is about a guy telling his woman what he'd do if they ever broke up OR if he ever lost her. He's saying that he would continue to live life, going through daily routines, but his heart would always struggle with the pain of having lost her. The "riot" is in him pretending to be okaye (going out, being with friends, ignoring the heartache, etc.) but knowing in his heart and head that all he wants is to be back in her arms. It's really a deep song. It definitely reminds me of "Breathe Again" by Toni Braxton.