"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.
You're a song written by the hands of God
Don't get me wrong 'cause this might sound to you a bit odd
But you own the place where all my thoughts go hiding
Right under your clothes, is where I find them
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
'Cause of you, I forgot the smart ways to lie
Because of you, I'm running out of reasons to cry
When the friends are gone, when the party's over
We will still belong to each other
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl
For being such a, hey
I love you more than all that's on the planet
Movin', talkin', walkin', breathin'
You know it's true, oh baby it's so funny
You almost don't believe it
As every voice is hangin' from the silence
Lamps are hangin' from the ceiling
Like a lady tied to her manners
I'm tied up to this feeling
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
Underneath your clothes
Whoa oh, oh, oh
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl
For being such a good girl
Don't get me wrong 'cause this might sound to you a bit odd
But you own the place where all my thoughts go hiding
Right under your clothes, is where I find them
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
'Cause of you, I forgot the smart ways to lie
Because of you, I'm running out of reasons to cry
When the friends are gone, when the party's over
We will still belong to each other
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl
For being such a, hey
I love you more than all that's on the planet
Movin', talkin', walkin', breathin'
You know it's true, oh baby it's so funny
You almost don't believe it
As every voice is hangin' from the silence
Lamps are hangin' from the ceiling
Like a lady tied to her manners
I'm tied up to this feeling
Underneath your clothes
There's an endless story
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl, honey
Underneath your clothes
Whoa oh, oh, oh
There's the man I chose
There's my territory
And all the things I deserve
For being such a good girl
For being such a good girl
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[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.
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.
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."
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.
anyway, it's a love song. "underneath your clothes" is both literal and deeper. it's about sex, but it's also just about closeness between two people.
I think this song plain and simple describes how much she loves this guy...... and how she is so glad that she is with him. Its a beautiful love song, there aren't very many out there recently that are about true love - most are lust filled. I am impressed with this!
@dork_the_fish I feel this one is about sex too though
my favorite line is "And of all the things I deserve For being such A good girl honey"
Ya. Probably a lot of it is cuz Shakira wrote it herself. She doesn't fit in the typical Britney-Christinia-teeny bopper-genre. This is an honest song, and she has a great voice.
Here in Colombia, we thought Shakira betrayed us because she got all comercial and she forgot about her roots, but now I see that she is trying to be true to herself and not take any more &%$% from people. I started loving her again after hearing this great song
I agree with all that say this is a beautifully written love song, but there certainly is an air of sex to it. Sex really connects people in a relationship, and it isn't strange to feel affectionate towards everything your lover is.
And, to whomever said that Shakira needs to stop dying her hair blond... how many Colombians do you know? While Shakira may dye her hair frequently, I know a handful of Colombians with simply dark roots.
i wish she still sang this live often :(
this is probably my favorite shakira song
i completely respect her as an artist, but i miss this era of her music.
just a personal opinion, and some of what i'm saying has already been mentioned, but i would agree with tinamarie in that she is not literally talking about what is underneath his clothes, but more using clothes as a metaphor for the act people put on when around strangers, which everyone does; and that she is talking about the man underneath the act the rest of the world knows.
"Because of you I forgot the Smart ways to lie"
The song can be taken at face value, just to mean that she loves him; but i think it can also be interpreted as telling us to look beneath the 'clothes'(acts) people wear, and to know the person behind them, and basically coming back to the time honoured fable of 'don't judge a book by it's cover'
please give me your opinions on my interpretation of this amazingly evocative song
love you pippa xxxxxxxxxxxx <3
I think this is my favourite song of hers. Love the lyrics "You own the place where all my thoughts go hiding / Right under your clothes, is where I find them". It's partly about sex but the connection between them is implied on a deeper level. In "'Cause of you I forgot the smart ways to lie" it's obvious that she trusts him enough to let her guard down and she is extremely proud of who he is, calling him her territory. It's very clearly a love song, she seems overwhelmed with the way she feels for him.
I really love this song!! Actually, I have fallen in love with all of Shakira's music. All of her songs sort of bring me back to my latin love...but this song especially stuck out in my head when i bought the cd and listened to it...its really a slow song, and even though I am normally listen to hard rock, I really love this song!!!