"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.
Why don't you shut the door
And close the curtains?
'Cause you're not going anywhere
He's coming up the stairs
And in a moment he'll want to see your underwear
I couldn't stop it now
There's no way to get out
He's standing far too near
And how the hell did you get in here
Semi-naked in somebody else's room?
I'd give my whole life to see it
Just you
Stood there
Only in your underwear
If fashion is your trade
Then when you're naked
I guess you must be unemployed yeah
But 'cause once it's underway
There's no escaping
The fact that you're a girl and he's a boy
I couldn't stop it now
There's no way to get out
He's standing far too near
And how the hell did you get in here
Semi-naked in somebody else's room?
I'd give my whole life to see it
Just you
Stood there
Only in your underwear
If you close your eyes and just remember
That this is what you wanted last night
So why is it so hard for you to touch him
For you to go and give yourself to him, oh, Jesus
I couldn't stop it now
There's no way to get out
He's standing far too near
And how the hell did you get in here
Semi-naked in somebody else's room?
I'd give my whole life to see it
Just you
Stood there
Only in your underwear, come on, come on, come on now
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo, doo, doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo, doo, doo
Oh yeah
I want to see you
Want to see you standing in your underwear, oh
And close the curtains?
'Cause you're not going anywhere
He's coming up the stairs
And in a moment he'll want to see your underwear
I couldn't stop it now
There's no way to get out
He's standing far too near
And how the hell did you get in here
Semi-naked in somebody else's room?
I'd give my whole life to see it
Just you
Stood there
Only in your underwear
If fashion is your trade
Then when you're naked
I guess you must be unemployed yeah
But 'cause once it's underway
There's no escaping
The fact that you're a girl and he's a boy
I couldn't stop it now
There's no way to get out
He's standing far too near
And how the hell did you get in here
Semi-naked in somebody else's room?
I'd give my whole life to see it
Just you
Stood there
Only in your underwear
If you close your eyes and just remember
That this is what you wanted last night
So why is it so hard for you to touch him
For you to go and give yourself to him, oh, Jesus
I couldn't stop it now
There's no way to get out
He's standing far too near
And how the hell did you get in here
Semi-naked in somebody else's room?
I'd give my whole life to see it
Just you
Stood there
Only in your underwear, come on, come on, come on now
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo, doo, doo
Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, doo, doo, doo
Oh yeah
I want to see you
Want to see you standing in your underwear, oh
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
I have been the girl in the song.
It's about being slightly too drunk to make a rational decision, and then realising rather too late that you really don't want to go through with this. Standing semi - conscious in his room thinking of how the **** you're going to get out of this one, cause you're really not ready, but being too drunk to do anything rational and sitting down on the bed in a blind panic.