"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.
[Bicasso talkin']
Yeah... ehem... we finally grown up now
Looking back from the halfway point
Looking forward too
Still doin' these songs you know... dedications
Goin' out to our children, all our nieces and nephews
Family members and our loved ones
Pressin' it on the plastic see how long it lasted
Forever and a day... look
[Bicasso]
You ever think about the sunrise and sunsets?
Just another day of planets spinnin' on its axis
Gravitational pulls the moon and the stars
The tides are afected and lives are connected
How bold we are? As bold as love
But only strong as our weakest link push to shove
How many times we wasn't trippen off of it just because
The game was on you see that same old song
We havin family reunions now that someone's gone
I'm looking at what I'm doing like is something wrong
Can I better myself for strength and health?
And do the words that I say get played and someone felt?
Touched, do i think too much?
If I make my momma proud well is that just enough
She won't land me a family with lots of stuff
I know that that's on me so I don't just emcee
I move in artforms music niftily
You could package me up and use it you'll see
And when I'm done put fire to flame
Lift my ashes to the ocean and cry my name
After I'm gone
[Hook1]
After the love after the pain
After the tears after the change
There'll still be music and growth
There'll still be power and hope
So feel me there'll still be people who know
[Eligh]
After my chapter is done so captured by sun rays mastered the one play
Always forget to run one way street's a fork's in the road middle ground I
Ended up with the glass that's half full
Blessed is every footprint that I chose to lay
Yes it's only right to say that I had my way
I could never complain using his name in vein
(has worked??) for me, then you
Takin' advantage of talent just to seek the truth
Besides the fact that I was galant with my silver steed and grip
And failed at my most important first relantionships
And wailed at the moon on shrooms feelin' doom then consumed
By my panoramic view of a ceramic world askew
I then cracked the glass with the closed fist of hate
And I tried to sit and wait in a meditative state
But this gypsy had a soul of a wanderin' king
With two broken legs and two giant wings
[Hook1]
[Hook2]
After the struggle after the fear
After the troubles after the dust is clear
There'll still be fire and ice
There'll still be death and life
[Aesop]
After the child let his soul release
His body and his mind finally found his sleep
Those who loved him seen him dancin in the dreams they keep
And heaven's never close to the devil's heat
Though the fire burned deep within his essence
The presence remain in his childrens' frame
Stronger than his name man the game is blood flow
The best traits, the passion the gusto
Lost all his bad things mostly the lust for
Money and his problem the open and trust those
People that he loved he watched the dust flow
Ashes to mother earth is where they must go
Join with God envelope within the beautiful
Music ever singing the hymns
His family still feel him cause they singin to him
Good that he's gone is how it's seemin to him
Cause all the troubles in his family now that's seemin to him
The sin in his soul now that's seemin to them
The lineage he left helped his family to win
A chance for the happiness to finally begin
[Hook1]
[The Grouch]
Legacy, photographs, memories
The best station me through my phonograph spin it please
Connecting dots all thoughts of a young man
What do we have here love and strong man
We're all journeymen have been and will be
Dollar dirty nah I was earthy filthy
Show my people that way I hope they feel me
If I die today I got no regrets what is is still me
Minus a shell I'm in the wind in the trees
Legends to be told like mythology
And if all of these seas gon' wanna swallow you up
I'll be right next to God here to follow through with what
I was called for broke the law for saved it all for
Cried my eyes and moved my jaw for
Call for my help and I'm there
If only through my spirit I'm gone but still here
After I'm gone...
Yeah... ehem... we finally grown up now
Looking back from the halfway point
Looking forward too
Still doin' these songs you know... dedications
Goin' out to our children, all our nieces and nephews
Family members and our loved ones
Pressin' it on the plastic see how long it lasted
Forever and a day... look
[Bicasso]
You ever think about the sunrise and sunsets?
Just another day of planets spinnin' on its axis
Gravitational pulls the moon and the stars
The tides are afected and lives are connected
How bold we are? As bold as love
But only strong as our weakest link push to shove
How many times we wasn't trippen off of it just because
The game was on you see that same old song
We havin family reunions now that someone's gone
I'm looking at what I'm doing like is something wrong
Can I better myself for strength and health?
And do the words that I say get played and someone felt?
Touched, do i think too much?
If I make my momma proud well is that just enough
She won't land me a family with lots of stuff
I know that that's on me so I don't just emcee
I move in artforms music niftily
You could package me up and use it you'll see
And when I'm done put fire to flame
Lift my ashes to the ocean and cry my name
After I'm gone
[Hook1]
After the love after the pain
After the tears after the change
There'll still be music and growth
There'll still be power and hope
So feel me there'll still be people who know
[Eligh]
After my chapter is done so captured by sun rays mastered the one play
Always forget to run one way street's a fork's in the road middle ground I
Ended up with the glass that's half full
Blessed is every footprint that I chose to lay
Yes it's only right to say that I had my way
I could never complain using his name in vein
(has worked??) for me, then you
Takin' advantage of talent just to seek the truth
Besides the fact that I was galant with my silver steed and grip
And failed at my most important first relantionships
And wailed at the moon on shrooms feelin' doom then consumed
By my panoramic view of a ceramic world askew
I then cracked the glass with the closed fist of hate
And I tried to sit and wait in a meditative state
But this gypsy had a soul of a wanderin' king
With two broken legs and two giant wings
[Hook1]
[Hook2]
After the struggle after the fear
After the troubles after the dust is clear
There'll still be fire and ice
There'll still be death and life
[Aesop]
After the child let his soul release
His body and his mind finally found his sleep
Those who loved him seen him dancin in the dreams they keep
And heaven's never close to the devil's heat
Though the fire burned deep within his essence
The presence remain in his childrens' frame
Stronger than his name man the game is blood flow
The best traits, the passion the gusto
Lost all his bad things mostly the lust for
Money and his problem the open and trust those
People that he loved he watched the dust flow
Ashes to mother earth is where they must go
Join with God envelope within the beautiful
Music ever singing the hymns
His family still feel him cause they singin to him
Good that he's gone is how it's seemin to him
Cause all the troubles in his family now that's seemin to him
The sin in his soul now that's seemin to them
The lineage he left helped his family to win
A chance for the happiness to finally begin
[Hook1]
[The Grouch]
Legacy, photographs, memories
The best station me through my phonograph spin it please
Connecting dots all thoughts of a young man
What do we have here love and strong man
We're all journeymen have been and will be
Dollar dirty nah I was earthy filthy
Show my people that way I hope they feel me
If I die today I got no regrets what is is still me
Minus a shell I'm in the wind in the trees
Legends to be told like mythology
And if all of these seas gon' wanna swallow you up
I'll be right next to God here to follow through with what
I was called for broke the law for saved it all for
Cried my eyes and moved my jaw for
Call for my help and I'm there
If only through my spirit I'm gone but still here
After I'm gone...
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.