"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.
Runnin' my mouth off at the storm
Yelling man, what the hell did you do that for?
And I was watching the old men fish
And they'd all give their catch away
And I could hear a woman singing
And I could hear that piano play
It'd go like...
Where did you get your bad breath?
I want some, oh a drag off your cigarette
And I was thinking about a song
That I heard when I was young
And I was wondering about its trumpeteer
How he could get those horn to talk
Something like..
Tears will gather in my eyes
Hold my head, ah babe, you know I'll cry
And I was thinking bout the places I'd been
With you always at my side
Like a baby, oh I held my head and cried
Come on Dorothy, you know we could go all night
Hey, it's nighttime and you know
It's getting cold so babe put on some clothes
And let's go hit the town
And we could fill a room up with smoke
You know I got the first round
As we tell all those stories told
And now we'll pretend you were new
Like I was just introduced to you
And all the music in my ears
Sounds beautiful down here
And I could hear that drummer roll
As I listen to that choir cry
And I could hear that guitar weeping
I could feel those pipers pipe
And all the beauty I couldn't see
Well it just cut me at my knees
And I was watching the old men fish
And they'd all give their catch away
And I could hear a woman singing
And I could hear that piano play
Tears will gather in my eyes
Hold my head oh and babe, you know I'll cry
Like a baby I held my head and cried
Come on Dorothy, ah you know we could go all night
Yelling man, what the hell did you do that for?
And I was watching the old men fish
And they'd all give their catch away
And I could hear a woman singing
And I could hear that piano play
It'd go like...
Where did you get your bad breath?
I want some, oh a drag off your cigarette
And I was thinking about a song
That I heard when I was young
And I was wondering about its trumpeteer
How he could get those horn to talk
Something like..
Tears will gather in my eyes
Hold my head, ah babe, you know I'll cry
And I was thinking bout the places I'd been
With you always at my side
Like a baby, oh I held my head and cried
Come on Dorothy, you know we could go all night
Hey, it's nighttime and you know
It's getting cold so babe put on some clothes
And let's go hit the town
And we could fill a room up with smoke
You know I got the first round
As we tell all those stories told
And now we'll pretend you were new
Like I was just introduced to you
And all the music in my ears
Sounds beautiful down here
And I could hear that drummer roll
As I listen to that choir cry
And I could hear that guitar weeping
I could feel those pipers pipe
And all the beauty I couldn't see
Well it just cut me at my knees
And I was watching the old men fish
And they'd all give their catch away
And I could hear a woman singing
And I could hear that piano play
Tears will gather in my eyes
Hold my head oh and babe, you know I'll cry
Like a baby I held my head and cried
Come on Dorothy, ah you know we could go all night
Lyrics submitted by tamchop, edited by smallwonderrobot
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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"
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.
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.
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.