"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.
There's something wrong, I feel it now
Up until this moment, I had it figured out
Am I the reason? Am I to blame
For never noticing the rain?
Holding tight, choking hope, living life on a ledge
It's not my fault if I'm wrong, knowing truth is within
They say heavens above, and Hell is below
So why do they feel so close?
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
Rebuilding life that I've killed
Repeating stories until
They're all that I believe
Running from reality
It's me against the gravity
I should have learned, I should have known
How to talk to all my demons, learned to let them go
The fire burns, so no one grows
When people fear what they don't know
They say heavens above, and Hell is below
So why do they feel so close?
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
Rebuilding life that I've killed
Repeating stories until
They're all that I believe
Running from reality
It's me against the gravity
I'm spiraling, spiraling
Sinking at the speed of sound
The world looks so much darker
When your body hits the ground
When your body hits the ground
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
Rebuilding life that I've killed
Repeating stories until
They're all that I believe
No one spoke a lie
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
Rebuilding life that I've killed
Repeating stories until
They're all that I believe
Running from reality
It's me against the gravity
Gravity!
Get up, get up!
Gravity!
Up until this moment, I had it figured out
Am I the reason? Am I to blame
For never noticing the rain?
Holding tight, choking hope, living life on a ledge
It's not my fault if I'm wrong, knowing truth is within
They say heavens above, and Hell is below
So why do they feel so close?
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
Rebuilding life that I've killed
Repeating stories until
They're all that I believe
Running from reality
It's me against the gravity
I should have learned, I should have known
How to talk to all my demons, learned to let them go
The fire burns, so no one grows
When people fear what they don't know
They say heavens above, and Hell is below
So why do they feel so close?
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
Rebuilding life that I've killed
Repeating stories until
They're all that I believe
Running from reality
It's me against the gravity
I'm spiraling, spiraling
Sinking at the speed of sound
The world looks so much darker
When your body hits the ground
When your body hits the ground
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
Rebuilding life that I've killed
Repeating stories until
They're all that I believe
No one spoke a lie
It's like I'm falling through the sky
Revolving like a satellite
Rebuilding life that I've killed
Repeating stories until
They're all that I believe
Running from reality
It's me against the gravity
Gravity!
Get up, get up!
Gravity!
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
“I grew up in a conservative Christian household, and fortunately, had a very trauma-free upbringing. I thought I had everything figured out when it came to stress/anxiety, because I had been able to handle everything life had thrown at me, and ‘with the help of God’ could get through anything. That’s what I thought at least. When real life finally hit me in 2020, between bringing in our niece/nephew, my wife almost dying, and losing my job to the pandemic, I absolutely fell apart. I didn’t put time and effort into my mental health, because I always figured God would have my back, but you can’t be complacent, and expect others, even God, to pick up the mess. I suffered panic attacks, wasn't eating, and even developed extreme hypochondria, which I’m still working through today.” kerrang.com/fit-for-a-kings-track-by-track-guide-to-new-album-the-hell-we-create