"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.
Beneath charcoal skies my thoughts they roll and slowly fade with time
I thought I saw you near, called your name forgetting you'd never hear
My words resonate and dance among the void that filled your place
It's the little things that grow into the demons that haunt my days
This vacancy in my chest
Is burning through and the bliss and the will that I have left
You know that misery brings company that’s not who I am
But if regret becomes hope then I will torment the masses
My last words echo over and over
Wish I could bring you back
My last words echo over and over
The past is the past wish I could forget
Passed on, but the past isn't gone
I carry all the wrong we've done
Each resentment like a stone
Guess what
I put your picture back up
It reminds me of what I should have said
I’ll make sure I don’t forget
Off track
Without a map in my hand
I try to find my pride and define independence
Bow down to the sense of remorse
I need to stand my ground
To hold the weight of insanity
Agony is my reality
Agony is my reality
Step down stand and let me breathe
Agony is my reality
My last words echo over and over
Wish I could bring you back
My last words echo over and over
The past is the past wish I could forget
Lying in this half empty bed between barely alive and halfway to dead
Beat down broken and dragged through the mud
With one wing dipped in gold and the other in blood
I will never be whole
Lying in this half empty bed between barely alive and halfway to dead
Beat down broken and dragged through the mud
With one wing dipped in gold and the other in blood
My last words echo over and over
Wish I could bring you back
My last words echo over and over
The past is the past wish I could forget
I thought I saw you near, called your name forgetting you'd never hear
My words resonate and dance among the void that filled your place
It's the little things that grow into the demons that haunt my days
This vacancy in my chest
Is burning through and the bliss and the will that I have left
You know that misery brings company that’s not who I am
But if regret becomes hope then I will torment the masses
My last words echo over and over
Wish I could bring you back
My last words echo over and over
The past is the past wish I could forget
Passed on, but the past isn't gone
I carry all the wrong we've done
Each resentment like a stone
Guess what
I put your picture back up
It reminds me of what I should have said
I’ll make sure I don’t forget
Off track
Without a map in my hand
I try to find my pride and define independence
Bow down to the sense of remorse
I need to stand my ground
To hold the weight of insanity
Agony is my reality
Agony is my reality
Step down stand and let me breathe
Agony is my reality
My last words echo over and over
Wish I could bring you back
My last words echo over and over
The past is the past wish I could forget
Lying in this half empty bed between barely alive and halfway to dead
Beat down broken and dragged through the mud
With one wing dipped in gold and the other in blood
I will never be whole
Lying in this half empty bed between barely alive and halfway to dead
Beat down broken and dragged through the mud
With one wing dipped in gold and the other in blood
My last words echo over and over
Wish I could bring you back
My last words echo over and over
The past is the past wish I could forget
Lyrics submitted by darkforce100
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.