"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.
Your anger sees
Nothing clearly
Abandoned senses
Impaled on fences
Lacerations bleed
And we all can see
Eternal bloodletting
With the white we're all wearing
What about dreams makes you so angry
Cause not everyone has them
Or cause you're not in all of them
How's your process
Are you sure it's still works for you
Devoted to the way it's always been
Halcyon implies that it was once good
These injuries
You'll not walk away from
Have you calmed down
Are you quite done
You enter a plea
No one's buying
The innocent is guilty
Entering a new territory
How's your process?
Are you sure it's still working for you?
Didn't notice the (w)hole had grown before you climbed
Why don't you protest
Without destroying everything in your path
The path before you lies
You narrowly beat the rap
The wrath unleashed
So very very ugly
It must never seen or hear from again
Trying to be
Through the warring
There's no safe place here
Trying to be through this crippling fear
Nothing clearly
Abandoned senses
Impaled on fences
Lacerations bleed
And we all can see
Eternal bloodletting
With the white we're all wearing
What about dreams makes you so angry
Cause not everyone has them
Or cause you're not in all of them
How's your process
Are you sure it's still works for you
Devoted to the way it's always been
Halcyon implies that it was once good
These injuries
You'll not walk away from
Have you calmed down
Are you quite done
You enter a plea
No one's buying
The innocent is guilty
Entering a new territory
How's your process?
Are you sure it's still working for you?
Didn't notice the (w)hole had grown before you climbed
Why don't you protest
Without destroying everything in your path
The path before you lies
You narrowly beat the rap
The wrath unleashed
So very very ugly
It must never seen or hear from again
Trying to be
Through the warring
There's no safe place here
Trying to be through this crippling fear
Lyrics submitted by travislopes
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
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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”
Dreamwalker
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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.
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.