"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.
Cop Killer
Yeah
I got my black shirt on
I got my black gloves on
I got my ski mask on
This shit's been too long
I got my twelve gauge sawed-off
I got my headlights turned off
I'm 'bout to bust some shots off
I'm 'bout to dust some cops off
I'm a cop killer, better you than me
Cop killer, fuck police brutality
Cop killer, I know your family's grieving (fuck 'em)
Cop killer, but tonight we get even, haha
I got my brain on hype
Tonight will be your night
I got this long-assed knife
And your neck looks just right
Now my adrenaline's pumpin'
I got my stereo bumpin'
I'm 'bout to kill me somethin'
A pig stopped me for nothin'
Cop killer, better you than me
Cop killer, fuck police brutality
Cop killer, I know your momma's grieving (fuck her)
Cop killer, but tonight we get even, yeah
Die, die, die pig, die
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Yeah
Cop killer, better you than me
I'm a cop killer, fuck police brutality
Cop killer, I know your family's grieving (fuck 'em)
Cop killer, but tonight we get even, hahahaha, yeah
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police, break it down
(Fuck the police) yeah
(Fuck the police) for Darryl Gates
(Fuck the police) for Rodney King
(Fuck the police) for my dead homies
(Fuck the police) for your freedom
(Fuck the police) don't be a pussy
(Fuck the police) have some muthafuckin' courage
(Fuck the police) sing along
Cop killer
Cop killer
Cop killer
Cop killer
Cop killer, (what do you want to be when you grow up?)
Cop killer, (good choice)
Cop killer, I'm a muthafuckin'
Cop killer
Cop killer, better you than me
Cop killer, fuck police brutality
Cop killer, I know your momma's grieving (fuck her)
Cop killer, but tonight we get even
Yeah
I got my black shirt on
I got my black gloves on
I got my ski mask on
This shit's been too long
I got my twelve gauge sawed-off
I got my headlights turned off
I'm 'bout to bust some shots off
I'm 'bout to dust some cops off
I'm a cop killer, better you than me
Cop killer, fuck police brutality
Cop killer, I know your family's grieving (fuck 'em)
Cop killer, but tonight we get even, haha
I got my brain on hype
Tonight will be your night
I got this long-assed knife
And your neck looks just right
Now my adrenaline's pumpin'
I got my stereo bumpin'
I'm 'bout to kill me somethin'
A pig stopped me for nothin'
Cop killer, better you than me
Cop killer, fuck police brutality
Cop killer, I know your momma's grieving (fuck her)
Cop killer, but tonight we get even, yeah
Die, die, die pig, die
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Yeah
Cop killer, better you than me
I'm a cop killer, fuck police brutality
Cop killer, I know your family's grieving (fuck 'em)
Cop killer, but tonight we get even, hahahaha, yeah
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police
Fuck the police, break it down
(Fuck the police) yeah
(Fuck the police) for Darryl Gates
(Fuck the police) for Rodney King
(Fuck the police) for my dead homies
(Fuck the police) for your freedom
(Fuck the police) don't be a pussy
(Fuck the police) have some muthafuckin' courage
(Fuck the police) sing along
Cop killer
Cop killer
Cop killer
Cop killer
Cop killer, (what do you want to be when you grow up?)
Cop killer, (good choice)
Cop killer, I'm a muthafuckin'
Cop killer
Cop killer, better you than me
Cop killer, fuck police brutality
Cop killer, I know your momma's grieving (fuck her)
Cop killer, but tonight we get even
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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”
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.
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.
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.
Fucking fuzz. You can't stop the message.
Everyone knows about police brutality.