"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.
Up rose a movement titled C.R.A.S.S.
Who spoke of anarchy and freedom putting power to the test?
A caring group of people who worked outside the system
Aiming for liberty and peace using passive resistance
They took on a larger battle challenging all the rights and wrongs
The state, sexism, war, religion. Love and hope spread from their songs
Punk is dead - now refuse to be led
Fight wars - not wars - oppose all power they said
They questioned institutions, reputations, the class systems
Destroying power not people, but also rejecting revolution
They never set out to profit from another
The music took a backseat so the message got louder
Unity, respect don’t contaminate our earth
Is what was screamed at leaders in asylum, morals, values, what’s it worth?
Those who couldn’t take it tried to stop them with violence
They refused to play their game, and watched the political minds subsidence
Attempts failed feebly to create divisions in the movement
For it was real, unmarketable, not the bullshit we were used to
Yes we still have their fucked system, regulations, laws and threats
Whose fault is that? Not theirs! They're still doing their bit, are you?
People don’t climb on the pedestal; they are pushed there
Questions developing leadership
When you know what’s being said is right, why do you need proof?
For fuck sake- why can’t you understand what they are saying?
The shit we get, the shit we get
Who spoke of anarchy and freedom putting power to the test?
A caring group of people who worked outside the system
Aiming for liberty and peace using passive resistance
They took on a larger battle challenging all the rights and wrongs
The state, sexism, war, religion. Love and hope spread from their songs
Punk is dead - now refuse to be led
Fight wars - not wars - oppose all power they said
They questioned institutions, reputations, the class systems
Destroying power not people, but also rejecting revolution
They never set out to profit from another
The music took a backseat so the message got louder
Unity, respect don’t contaminate our earth
Is what was screamed at leaders in asylum, morals, values, what’s it worth?
Those who couldn’t take it tried to stop them with violence
They refused to play their game, and watched the political minds subsidence
Attempts failed feebly to create divisions in the movement
For it was real, unmarketable, not the bullshit we were used to
Yes we still have their fucked system, regulations, laws and threats
Whose fault is that? Not theirs! They're still doing their bit, are you?
People don’t climb on the pedestal; they are pushed there
Questions developing leadership
When you know what’s being said is right, why do you need proof?
For fuck sake- why can’t you understand what they are saying?
The shit we get, the shit we get
Lyrics submitted by dragonflower44
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
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.
They actually got the name for the band from a David Bowie song.