"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.
Oh, you know I have seen
A sky without sun, a man with no nation
Saints, captive in chains
A song with no name for lack of imagination
And I have seen
Darker than ebony
And now it seems, that I
Without your eyes could never be
My one desire, all I aspire
Is in your eyes forever to live
Traveled all over, the seven oceans
There is nothing that I wouldn't give
Came from Bahrein, gone to Beruit
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii
Fi ainaiha aralhayati
Ati ilaika min haza lkaaouni
Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Came from Bahrain, until Beirut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Oh, you know I have seen
A woman of means in rags and begging for pleasure
Crossed, a river of salt
Just after I rode a ship that sunk in the desert
And I have seen
Darker than ebony
And now it seems, that I
Without your eyes could never be
My one desire, all I aspire
Is in your eyes forever to live
Traveled all over, the seven oceans
There is nothing that I wouldn't give
Came from Bahrein, gone to Beruit
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii
Fi ainaiha aralhayati
Ati ilaika min haza lkaaouni
Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Came from Bahrein, gone to Beruit
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Rabboussamia fikarrajaii
Fi ainaiha aralhayati
At ilaika min haza ikaaouni
Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Came from Bahrein, until Beriut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
My one desire, all I aspire
Is in your eyes forever to live
Traveled all over, the seven oceans
There is nothing I wouldn't give
Came from Bahrain, until Beirut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
A sky without sun, a man with no nation
Saints, captive in chains
A song with no name for lack of imagination
And I have seen
Darker than ebony
And now it seems, that I
Without your eyes could never be
My one desire, all I aspire
Is in your eyes forever to live
Traveled all over, the seven oceans
There is nothing that I wouldn't give
Came from Bahrein, gone to Beruit
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii
Fi ainaiha aralhayati
Ati ilaika min haza lkaaouni
Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Came from Bahrain, until Beirut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Oh, you know I have seen
A woman of means in rags and begging for pleasure
Crossed, a river of salt
Just after I rode a ship that sunk in the desert
And I have seen
Darker than ebony
And now it seems, that I
Without your eyes could never be
My one desire, all I aspire
Is in your eyes forever to live
Traveled all over, the seven oceans
There is nothing that I wouldn't give
Came from Bahrein, gone to Beruit
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii
Fi ainaiha aralhayati
Ati ilaika min haza lkaaouni
Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Came from Bahrein, gone to Beruit
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
Rabboussamia fikarrajaii
Fi ainaiha aralhayati
At ilaika min haza ikaaouni
Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Came from Bahrein, until Beriut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
My one desire, all I aspire
Is in your eyes forever to live
Traveled all over, the seven oceans
There is nothing I wouldn't give
Came from Bahrain, until Beirut
Looking for someone comparing to you
Tearing down windows and doors
And I could not find eyes like yours
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"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:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Sorry, I am doing it again:
Oh, you know I have seen A sky without sun A man with no nation Saints captive in chains A song with no name For lack of imagination
Ya he, ya he, ya la he And I have seen Darker than ebony Ya he ya he ya la he And now it seems that I Without your eyes could never be
My one desire, all I aspire Is in your eyes forever to live Travelled all over the seven oceans There is nothing that I wouldn't give Came from Bahrein, got to Beirut Looking for someone comparing to you Tearing down windows and doors And I could not find eyes like yours
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii Fi ainaiha aralhayati Ati ilaika min haza lkaaouni Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Came from Bahrein, got to Beirut Looking for someone comparing to you Tearing down windows and doors And I could not find eyes like yours
Oh, you know I have seen A woman of means and rags And begging for pleasure Crossed a river of salt The specter, I rode The ship that sank In the desert
Ya he, ya he, ya la he And I have seen Darker than ebony Ya he ya he ya la he And now it seems that I Without your eyes could never be
My one desire, all I aspire Is in your eyes forever to live Travelled all over the seven oceans There is nothing that I wouldn't give Came from Bahrein, got to Beirut Looking for someone comparing to you Tearing down windows and doors And I could not find eyes like yours
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii Fi ainaiha aralhayati Ati ilaika min haza lkaaouni Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Came from Bahrein, got to Beirut Looking for someone comparing to you Tearing down windows and doors And I could not find eyes like yours
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii Fi ainaiha aralhayati Ati ilaika min haza lkaaouni Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Looking for someone Comparing to you Tearing down Windows and doors And I could not Find eyes like yours
Rabboussamai fikarrajaii Fi ainaiha aralhayati Ati ilaika min haza lkaaouni Arjouka labbi labbi nidai
Min Bahrain ela Beirut
Looking for someone comparing to you Tearing down windows and doors And I could not find eyes like yours
My one desire, all I aspire Is in your eyes forever to live Travelled all over the seven oceans There is nothing that I wouldn't give Came from Bahrein, got to Beirut Looking for someone comparing to you Tearing down windows and doors And I could not find eyes like yours