"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.
(Sample)
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
(MC Paul Barman)
Cell towers have hell powers
People press phones to face for twelve hours
Disconnect your landline, you stepped on a landmine
Your ear canal is shaped like an and sign
Get a hands free set, now if not sooner
Before you sprout out a brain tumor named Junior
We're psycho slaves to microwaves
Get scalped just like a Brave
High doses transmit videos its undisclosed and alot that's a no
If you knock out a phone, you're still caught in the cold
So lift your head and mark the speed that they spread
They're on rooftops between 3 and 6 stories
Old manuals issued more warnings
Before the war we took out telecoms and cell towers and appeared the very next morning
{Pretty Girl Whistle}
Guess what? Plenty dudes keep the cells by their nuts
Text message costs ten cents, plus that's men of the stuff
Tower placement takes municipal bribes, kills pacemakers inside
So, as these waves bounce down your years
Your gonna hear about this for the next couple of years
(Sample)
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
(MC Paul Barman)
Depleted Uranium, a by-product from weapons and reactors
Compact, and aerosol lies on impact
Windblown brimstone makes Gulf War syndrome
Veterans get no medicine effect sets in, been home
Cancer still births some blood in the tissue
G.I. Joe stands for government issue
A black man's been placed in a white man's war
Nor a white man when that white man's poor
Better whipped and equipped
With armor-piercing rounds that
Disperce when they hit
Micron-type bombs switched
From Nagasaki to Iraq
We still kill with atoms
But without the fission
So what's the definition of a nuclear war
Mushroom clouds over cities
Or nuclei changed from what they were before
I think we let other people dictate our fears
We're gonna hear more about this in the next couple of years
(Sample)
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
(Fade out)
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
(MC Paul Barman)
Cell towers have hell powers
People press phones to face for twelve hours
Disconnect your landline, you stepped on a landmine
Your ear canal is shaped like an and sign
Get a hands free set, now if not sooner
Before you sprout out a brain tumor named Junior
We're psycho slaves to microwaves
Get scalped just like a Brave
High doses transmit videos its undisclosed and alot that's a no
If you knock out a phone, you're still caught in the cold
So lift your head and mark the speed that they spread
They're on rooftops between 3 and 6 stories
Old manuals issued more warnings
Before the war we took out telecoms and cell towers and appeared the very next morning
{Pretty Girl Whistle}
Guess what? Plenty dudes keep the cells by their nuts
Text message costs ten cents, plus that's men of the stuff
Tower placement takes municipal bribes, kills pacemakers inside
So, as these waves bounce down your years
Your gonna hear about this for the next couple of years
(Sample)
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
(MC Paul Barman)
Depleted Uranium, a by-product from weapons and reactors
Compact, and aerosol lies on impact
Windblown brimstone makes Gulf War syndrome
Veterans get no medicine effect sets in, been home
Cancer still births some blood in the tissue
G.I. Joe stands for government issue
A black man's been placed in a white man's war
Nor a white man when that white man's poor
Better whipped and equipped
With armor-piercing rounds that
Disperce when they hit
Micron-type bombs switched
From Nagasaki to Iraq
We still kill with atoms
But without the fission
So what's the definition of a nuclear war
Mushroom clouds over cities
Or nuclei changed from what they were before
I think we let other people dictate our fears
We're gonna hear more about this in the next couple of years
(Sample)
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
Ooh, ooh, there's something in the air...
(Fade out)
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Holiday
Bee Gees
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@[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.
American Town
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Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
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.