"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.
A cockroach in the concrete, courthouse tan and beady eyes
A slouch with fallen arches, purging truths into great lies
A little man with a big eraser, changing history
Procedures that he's programmed to, all he hears and sees
Altering the facts and figures, events and every issue
Make a person disappear, and no one will ever miss you
Rewrites every story, every poem that ever was
Eliminates incompetence, and those who break the laws
Follow the instructions of the New Ways' Evil Book of Rules
Replacing rights with wrongs, the files and records in the schools
You say you've got the answers, well who asked you anyway?
Ever think maybe it was meant to be this way?
Don't try to fool us, we know the worst is yet to come
And I believe my kingdom will come
F is for fighting, R is for red
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed
E, we elect them, E, we eject them
In the land of the free, and the home of the brave
D, for your dying, O, your overture
M, they will cover your grave with manure
This spells out freedom, it means nothing to me
As long as there's a PMRC
F is for fighting, R is for red
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed
E, we elect them, E, we eject them
In the land of the free and the home of the brave
D, for your dying, O, your overture
M is for money and you know what that cures
This spells out freedom, it means nothing to me
As long as there's a PMRC
F is for fighting, R is for red
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed
E, we elect them, E, we eject them
In the land of the free and the home of the brave
D, for your dying, O, your overture
M, they will cover your grave with manure
This spells out freedom, it means nothing to me
As long as there's a PMRC
Put your hand right up my shirt
Pull the strings that make me work
Jaws will part, words fall out
Like a fish with hook in mouth
Rewrites every story, every poem that ever was
Eliminates incompetence, and those who break the laws
Follow the instructions of the New Ways' Evil Book of Rules
Replacing rights with wrongs, the files and records in the schools
I'm not a fish
I'm a man
Hook in mouth
A slouch with fallen arches, purging truths into great lies
A little man with a big eraser, changing history
Procedures that he's programmed to, all he hears and sees
Altering the facts and figures, events and every issue
Make a person disappear, and no one will ever miss you
Rewrites every story, every poem that ever was
Eliminates incompetence, and those who break the laws
Follow the instructions of the New Ways' Evil Book of Rules
Replacing rights with wrongs, the files and records in the schools
You say you've got the answers, well who asked you anyway?
Ever think maybe it was meant to be this way?
Don't try to fool us, we know the worst is yet to come
And I believe my kingdom will come
F is for fighting, R is for red
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed
E, we elect them, E, we eject them
In the land of the free, and the home of the brave
D, for your dying, O, your overture
M, they will cover your grave with manure
This spells out freedom, it means nothing to me
As long as there's a PMRC
F is for fighting, R is for red
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed
E, we elect them, E, we eject them
In the land of the free and the home of the brave
D, for your dying, O, your overture
M is for money and you know what that cures
This spells out freedom, it means nothing to me
As long as there's a PMRC
F is for fighting, R is for red
Ancestors' blood in battles they've shed
E, we elect them, E, we eject them
In the land of the free and the home of the brave
D, for your dying, O, your overture
M, they will cover your grave with manure
This spells out freedom, it means nothing to me
As long as there's a PMRC
Put your hand right up my shirt
Pull the strings that make me work
Jaws will part, words fall out
Like a fish with hook in mouth
Rewrites every story, every poem that ever was
Eliminates incompetence, and those who break the laws
Follow the instructions of the New Ways' Evil Book of Rules
Replacing rights with wrongs, the files and records in the schools
I'm not a fish
I'm a man
Hook in mouth
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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.
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Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
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.
PMRC*