"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.
When I look back
Tracing fingertips over plastic bags
Thinking, "I wish I could extrapolate some small intention
Or maybe just get your attention for a minute or two"
Will I die? Or will I get to that ten-year mark?
Where I beat the extinction of telomeres?
And if I do, will you be there with me, Father, Sister, Brother?
Charlie, stop smoking
Caroline, will you be with me?
Will the baby be alright?
Will I have one of mine?
Can I handle it even if I do?
You said that my mind
Is not fit or so they said
To carry a child
I guess I'll be fine
It wasn't my idea the cocktail of things that twist neurons inside
But without them, I'd die
They say there's irony in the music, it's a tragedy
I see nothing Greek in it
Give me a mausoleum in Rhode Island with Dad, Grandma, Grandpa and Dave
Who hung himself real high
In the National Park sky, it's a shame and I'm crying right now
To get to you, save you if I take my life
Find your astral body, put it into my eyes
Give you two seconds to cry
Take you home, I, I'll give you a blanket
Your spirit can sit and watch TV by my side
'Cause, baby, I ran through a time when I felt you were doing it
I couldn't handle it, I was in Monaco
I couldn't hear what they said on the telephone
I had to sing for the prince in two hours
Sat in the shower
Gave myself two seconds to cry
It's a shame that we die
When I was fifteen, naked, next-door neighbors did a drive-by
Pulled me up by my waist, long hair to the beach side
I wanted to go out like you, swim with the fishes
That he caught on Rhode Island beaches
But, sometimes, it's just not your time
Caroline
What kind of mother was she to say I'd end up in institutions?
All I wanted to do was kiss Aaron Greene and sit by the lake
Twisting lime into the drinks that they made
Have a babe at sixteen, the town I was born in and died
Aaron ended up dead and not me
What the fuck's wrong in your head to send me away never to come back
Exotic places and people don't take the place of being your child?
I give myself two seconds to cry
Let it crash over me like the waves in the sea
Call me Aphrodite
As they bow down to me
Sunbather, moon chaser, queen of empathy
I give myself two seconds to breathe
And go back to being a serene queen
I just needed two seconds to be me
Tracing fingertips over plastic bags
Thinking, "I wish I could extrapolate some small intention
Or maybe just get your attention for a minute or two"
Will I die? Or will I get to that ten-year mark?
Where I beat the extinction of telomeres?
And if I do, will you be there with me, Father, Sister, Brother?
Charlie, stop smoking
Caroline, will you be with me?
Will the baby be alright?
Will I have one of mine?
Can I handle it even if I do?
You said that my mind
Is not fit or so they said
To carry a child
I guess I'll be fine
It wasn't my idea the cocktail of things that twist neurons inside
But without them, I'd die
They say there's irony in the music, it's a tragedy
I see nothing Greek in it
Give me a mausoleum in Rhode Island with Dad, Grandma, Grandpa and Dave
Who hung himself real high
In the National Park sky, it's a shame and I'm crying right now
To get to you, save you if I take my life
Find your astral body, put it into my eyes
Give you two seconds to cry
Take you home, I, I'll give you a blanket
Your spirit can sit and watch TV by my side
'Cause, baby, I ran through a time when I felt you were doing it
I couldn't handle it, I was in Monaco
I couldn't hear what they said on the telephone
I had to sing for the prince in two hours
Sat in the shower
Gave myself two seconds to cry
It's a shame that we die
When I was fifteen, naked, next-door neighbors did a drive-by
Pulled me up by my waist, long hair to the beach side
I wanted to go out like you, swim with the fishes
That he caught on Rhode Island beaches
But, sometimes, it's just not your time
Caroline
What kind of mother was she to say I'd end up in institutions?
All I wanted to do was kiss Aaron Greene and sit by the lake
Twisting lime into the drinks that they made
Have a babe at sixteen, the town I was born in and died
Aaron ended up dead and not me
What the fuck's wrong in your head to send me away never to come back
Exotic places and people don't take the place of being your child?
I give myself two seconds to cry
Let it crash over me like the waves in the sea
Call me Aphrodite
As they bow down to me
Sunbather, moon chaser, queen of empathy
I give myself two seconds to breathe
And go back to being a serene queen
I just needed two seconds to be me
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Fast Car
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"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:
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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.
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I Can't Go To Sleep
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Blue
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“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.