"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.
I'm seeing this girl and she just might be out of her mind
Well, she's got baggage and it's all the emotional kind
She talks about closure and that validation bit
I don't mean to be insensitive but I really hate that shit
And I said, yeah, yeah
Oh man, she's got issues
And I'm gonna pay
Yeah, yeah
She thinks she's the victim, yeah
Now I know she'll feel abandoned
If I don't stay over late
And I know she's afraid to commit
But it's only our second date
And I said, yeah, yeah
Oh man, she's got issues
And I'm gonna pay
Yeah, yeah
She says she's my victim
But she takes it all out on me
I don't know why you're messed up
I don't know why your whole life is a chore
Just do me a favor
And check your baggage at the door
Now she talks about her ex nonstop but I don't mind
But when she calls out his name in bed, that's where I draw the line
You told me a hundred times how your father left and he's gone
But I wish you wouldn't call me daddy
When we're gettin' it on
And I said, yeah, yeah
Oh man, she's got issues
And I'm gonna pay
Yeah, yeah
She says she's playing the victim
And taking it all out on me
Yeah, yeah
My god, she's got issues
And I'm gonna pay, gonna pay
Gonna pay, gonna pay
Gonna pay, gonna pay, woo
If you think I'm controlling
Then why do you follow me around?
If you're not co-dependent
Then why do you let others drag you down?
I don't know why you're messed up
I don't know why your whole life is a chore
Just do me a favor
And check your baggage at the door
Well, she's got baggage and it's all the emotional kind
She talks about closure and that validation bit
I don't mean to be insensitive but I really hate that shit
And I said, yeah, yeah
Oh man, she's got issues
And I'm gonna pay
Yeah, yeah
She thinks she's the victim, yeah
Now I know she'll feel abandoned
If I don't stay over late
And I know she's afraid to commit
But it's only our second date
And I said, yeah, yeah
Oh man, she's got issues
And I'm gonna pay
Yeah, yeah
She says she's my victim
But she takes it all out on me
I don't know why you're messed up
I don't know why your whole life is a chore
Just do me a favor
And check your baggage at the door
Now she talks about her ex nonstop but I don't mind
But when she calls out his name in bed, that's where I draw the line
You told me a hundred times how your father left and he's gone
But I wish you wouldn't call me daddy
When we're gettin' it on
And I said, yeah, yeah
Oh man, she's got issues
And I'm gonna pay
Yeah, yeah
She says she's playing the victim
And taking it all out on me
Yeah, yeah
My god, she's got issues
And I'm gonna pay, gonna pay
Gonna pay, gonna pay
Gonna pay, gonna pay, woo
If you think I'm controlling
Then why do you follow me around?
If you're not co-dependent
Then why do you let others drag you down?
I don't know why you're messed up
I don't know why your whole life is a chore
Just do me a favor
And check your baggage at the door
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
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.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
my ex bf said this is "my song"....ah, fuck off prick
i love this song, reminds me of one of my ex-girlfriends, she wasnt as insane as the chick described in this songs, but it was a nasty break-up, and she never really opened up to me, randomly went into these lame quiet moods, would never talk about anything that was wrong. She was a little whacky.
That sounds rather similar to my last ex. I loved her like crazy, and at first it was great, but she gradually showed signs that she wasn't "into" me. Even though she told me she loved me "forever." She went out of town to work the summer, and from there, it fell apart. She drifted apart from me and always put her friends first. We had a bitter breakup, and she made me look like the enemy. It was bullshit. Alone forever, lol
SOCIAL COMMENTARY people! this songs about how Americans and American youth to have the victim complex they blame all their problems on outside sources like other people, their youth, or mental illness. oh and I dated a chick like this, I don't date girls anymore
Why do you say Americans in specific?
Chick has BPD or HPD (look up Cluster B personality disorders)
i love this song. and the video is great too
this song is hilarious, probably my favorite on Americana. I like when he says "I wish she wouldn't call me daddy when were gettin it on"
this song is about my ex-girlfriend.... no frigging doubt about it
this is one of the funniest songs i know and it's fucking awesome! i guess guys come across chicks like this sometimes. i wouldn't know, im not a guy lol. but anyway, the chick can't get over her ex and her current bf is suffering from it. I love part of the song is "Now she talks about her ex nonstop, but I don't mind. But when she calls out his name in bed. That's where I draw the line. You told me a hundred times how your father left and he's gone. But I wish you wouldn't call me daddy when we're gettin' it on". Funniest verse of the song!
i love this song, reminds me of one of my ex-girlfriends, she wasnt as insane as the chick described in this songs, but it was a nasty break-up, and she never really opened up to me, randomly went into these lame quiet moods, would never talk about anything that was wrong. She was a little whacky.
Great Song So funny