"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.
You knew that I was coming 'cause you heard my name
But you don't know my game and never felt my pain
Can't read my brain but you read my lips
And got scared when you heard that I was coming with hits
Now don't even trip, be a man instead
Give thanks I'm alive when I should be dead
Uh, I'm in the red cause my mind's distortin'
People claimin' that they know me, but they only know a portion
I'ma move mountains and touch the sun
Don't get scared now, you knew this day would come
So hold your bids, all bets are closed
And fuck all you hoes
'Cause it's been a long time comin' but I finally broke
Like an egg yolk, I ain't no joke
Like some uncut dope motherfucker, Kid Rock's to blame
Same game, same name, ain't a damn thing changed
No sell-out, I ain't no ho, fuck the radio, comin' from the R-O-M-E-O
Watch me throw like a fist of rage
Self-made and paid and sold off twelve gauges
Up that ass for the nine-eight, nine-eight
Never fake, shake, straight from the Great Lakes
Seven years on wax comin' correct
Flat-out, you diss me punk, that's when I pull the strap out
And I get to buck-buck-bucking, I'm fuck-fuck-fucking your hoes
Cause they know who's runnin' this shit, Top-Dog I'm the CEO
Role model, your mother-fucking H-E-R-O
My motto, "be cool, keep pimpin'"
Don't sleep, we roll deep in a Lincoln
Four Vogues on a hundred spokes
We bust Biltmore Beavers in Top Dog coats
We float like butterflies, sting like queen bees
Strapped with AKs straight from the Chinese
What the fuck's goin' on in the D
Bunch of white boys pimpin' like the K-I-D
And it's all good, I got love for my honkeys
We roll thick, kick ass like donkeys
Anybody fucks with you and I'm gonna mack 'em
Devil without a cause, I'm going platinum
I'm going platinum, I'm going platinum
I'm going platinum, devil without a cause, I'm going platinum
Yeah, we come to party, so get down everybody (come on)
Yeah, we come to party
I went from St. Claire shores and drink specials at Winners
To New York City and seven hundred-dollar dinners
From hangin' with sinners and secondhand cheap sex
To gettin' much respect from top record execs
The cool Kid's claimin' up to call you out
So shut up now or put my balls in your mouth
Bet that ass, hoss, I ain't forgot
When I was tossed in the dime bin and left to rot
Used to call me funny when my nose was fucking runny
Now my fuckin' bunnies gettin' fuckin' Matchbox 20 money
Motherfuckers want to claim they're down
But when I was broke and down I never seen 'em around
All the shit we talked, all the shit we dreamed
I did it without you, I got a brand new team
No triple beams, it seems like a movie
Bought two cribs, drop-top, and jacuzzi
No more floozies, only high-class hoes
A couple when it rains and a few when it snows
A brand new nose to go along with my habit
And a garden hose made out of twenty-four karat
Bought a couple parots that like to squak
And they sound like you and all the shit you talk
Step inside my shoes, you couldn't fill em' doc
You're too old to kid, too soft to rock
I already did what most love to shout
Seven years on wax and I still ain't sold out
And there ain't no doubt in my mind
That I'm gonna stomp all over your test of time
I'm going platinum, I'm going platinum
Oh, I'm going platinum, we're going platinum
Devil without a cause, I'm going platinum
Devil, devil, devil, devil
Straight out of the streets of Taylor
Three-foot high, ready to get fly
Joe C
I'm the J-O-E to the C, ho
Call me Joe C, got more game than Coleco
I'm a freak, ho, call me sick
Three-foot-nine with a ten-foot dick
The ladies' pick, I'm a crazy hick
And rake through kind like a bum through wine
It's my time so I'm gonna shine like glass
Old as piss, but small as ass
Watch me cash, smoke some hash
You're raking grass while I'm raking cash
High-ass voice, like Aaron Neville
And I'm down with The Devil
Say we like to party, rock the party
(We like to party, rock the party)
We like to party, rock the party
(We like to party, rock the party)
You like to party, rock the party
(We like to party, rock the party)
You like to party, rock the party
Devil without a cause, I'm going platinum
But you don't know my game and never felt my pain
Can't read my brain but you read my lips
And got scared when you heard that I was coming with hits
Now don't even trip, be a man instead
Give thanks I'm alive when I should be dead
Uh, I'm in the red cause my mind's distortin'
People claimin' that they know me, but they only know a portion
I'ma move mountains and touch the sun
Don't get scared now, you knew this day would come
So hold your bids, all bets are closed
And fuck all you hoes
'Cause it's been a long time comin' but I finally broke
Like an egg yolk, I ain't no joke
Like some uncut dope motherfucker, Kid Rock's to blame
Same game, same name, ain't a damn thing changed
No sell-out, I ain't no ho, fuck the radio, comin' from the R-O-M-E-O
Watch me throw like a fist of rage
Self-made and paid and sold off twelve gauges
Up that ass for the nine-eight, nine-eight
Never fake, shake, straight from the Great Lakes
Seven years on wax comin' correct
Flat-out, you diss me punk, that's when I pull the strap out
And I get to buck-buck-bucking, I'm fuck-fuck-fucking your hoes
Cause they know who's runnin' this shit, Top-Dog I'm the CEO
Role model, your mother-fucking H-E-R-O
My motto, "be cool, keep pimpin'"
Don't sleep, we roll deep in a Lincoln
Four Vogues on a hundred spokes
We bust Biltmore Beavers in Top Dog coats
We float like butterflies, sting like queen bees
Strapped with AKs straight from the Chinese
What the fuck's goin' on in the D
Bunch of white boys pimpin' like the K-I-D
And it's all good, I got love for my honkeys
We roll thick, kick ass like donkeys
Anybody fucks with you and I'm gonna mack 'em
Devil without a cause, I'm going platinum
I'm going platinum, I'm going platinum
I'm going platinum, devil without a cause, I'm going platinum
Yeah, we come to party, so get down everybody (come on)
Yeah, we come to party
I went from St. Claire shores and drink specials at Winners
To New York City and seven hundred-dollar dinners
From hangin' with sinners and secondhand cheap sex
To gettin' much respect from top record execs
The cool Kid's claimin' up to call you out
So shut up now or put my balls in your mouth
Bet that ass, hoss, I ain't forgot
When I was tossed in the dime bin and left to rot
Used to call me funny when my nose was fucking runny
Now my fuckin' bunnies gettin' fuckin' Matchbox 20 money
Motherfuckers want to claim they're down
But when I was broke and down I never seen 'em around
All the shit we talked, all the shit we dreamed
I did it without you, I got a brand new team
No triple beams, it seems like a movie
Bought two cribs, drop-top, and jacuzzi
No more floozies, only high-class hoes
A couple when it rains and a few when it snows
A brand new nose to go along with my habit
And a garden hose made out of twenty-four karat
Bought a couple parots that like to squak
And they sound like you and all the shit you talk
Step inside my shoes, you couldn't fill em' doc
You're too old to kid, too soft to rock
I already did what most love to shout
Seven years on wax and I still ain't sold out
And there ain't no doubt in my mind
That I'm gonna stomp all over your test of time
I'm going platinum, I'm going platinum
Oh, I'm going platinum, we're going platinum
Devil without a cause, I'm going platinum
Devil, devil, devil, devil
Straight out of the streets of Taylor
Three-foot high, ready to get fly
Joe C
I'm the J-O-E to the C, ho
Call me Joe C, got more game than Coleco
I'm a freak, ho, call me sick
Three-foot-nine with a ten-foot dick
The ladies' pick, I'm a crazy hick
And rake through kind like a bum through wine
It's my time so I'm gonna shine like glass
Old as piss, but small as ass
Watch me cash, smoke some hash
You're raking grass while I'm raking cash
High-ass voice, like Aaron Neville
And I'm down with The Devil
Say we like to party, rock the party
(We like to party, rock the party)
We like to party, rock the party
(We like to party, rock the party)
You like to party, rock the party
(We like to party, rock the party)
You like to party, rock the party
Devil without a cause, I'm going platinum
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Devil Without a Cause Lyrics as written by Kenny Olson Jalil Hutchins
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
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”
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.
sucky