"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 was never something that you made important
Every time I think of you I can't ignore that I’m
I’m better off without you
You won't get another chance to take it back
You left me with a choice now I have to act like I
I’m better off without you
There's always somewhere else you'd rather be
I can see it in your eyes and if history repeats itself
Soon I'll be treading water just to stay alive
I can't live like this
I'm too far from home tonight
I won't fight for it
Because I feel like I'm already down and out
You lost your self in your reflection
Once you give up on me
I hope you finally see
I was never something that you made important
Every time I think of you I can't ignore that I’m
I’m better off without you
You won't get another chance to take it back
You left me with a choice now I have to act like I
I’m better off without you
I can't live like this
It's hard to say you were the best thing for me
I can't live like this
And all along I should have seen this coming
Wish I could take back the words that I said
I swear to god I wish they never left my mouth
And maybe I'm just like you say
But maybe losing you made me
Point the blame [x2] (Woah)
But now I finally see
You were never something that I made important
Every time I think of you I can't ignore that I'm
not better off without you
I won't get another chance to take it back
You left, I made a choice now it’s clear to me that I'm
not better off with you
I wish that I could have been there from the start
because the day you leave you'll take all my heart
And I don't ever want to live alone another day without you
I wish that I never let this fall apart
Because the day you leave you'll take all my heart
And I don't ever want to live alone another day without you
Every time I think of you I can't ignore that I’m
I’m better off without you
You won't get another chance to take it back
You left me with a choice now I have to act like I
I’m better off without you
There's always somewhere else you'd rather be
I can see it in your eyes and if history repeats itself
Soon I'll be treading water just to stay alive
I can't live like this
I'm too far from home tonight
I won't fight for it
Because I feel like I'm already down and out
You lost your self in your reflection
Once you give up on me
I hope you finally see
I was never something that you made important
Every time I think of you I can't ignore that I’m
I’m better off without you
You won't get another chance to take it back
You left me with a choice now I have to act like I
I’m better off without you
I can't live like this
It's hard to say you were the best thing for me
I can't live like this
And all along I should have seen this coming
Wish I could take back the words that I said
I swear to god I wish they never left my mouth
And maybe I'm just like you say
But maybe losing you made me
Point the blame [x2] (Woah)
But now I finally see
You were never something that I made important
Every time I think of you I can't ignore that I'm
not better off without you
I won't get another chance to take it back
You left, I made a choice now it’s clear to me that I'm
not better off with you
I wish that I could have been there from the start
because the day you leave you'll take all my heart
And I don't ever want to live alone another day without you
I wish that I never let this fall apart
Because the day you leave you'll take all my heart
And I don't ever want to live alone another day without you
Lyrics submitted by darkforce100
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.