"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.
Once that you've decided on a killing
First you make a stone of your heart
And if you find that your hands are still willing
Then you can turn a murder into art
There really isn't any need for bloodshed
You just do it with a little more finesse
If you can slip a tablet into someone's coffee
Then it avoids an awful lot of mess
It's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC's
It's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC's
Now if you have a taste for this experience
If you're flushed with your very first success
Then you must try a twosome or a threesome
You'll find your conscience bothers you much less
Because murder is like anything you take to
It's a habit-forming need for more and more
You can bump off every member of your family
And anybody else you find a bore
Because it's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC's
Murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC's
Now you can join the ranks of the illustrious
In history's great dark hall of fame
All our greatest killers were industrious
At least the ones that we all know by name
But you can reach the top of your profession
If you become the leader of the land
For murder is the sport of the elected
And you don't need to lift a finger of your hand
Because it's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC's
Murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your A, B, C, D, E
1, 2, 3, A, B, C
1, 2, 3, A, B, C
1, 2, 3, A, B, C
Because it's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC
Murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your A, B, C, D, E
First you make a stone of your heart
And if you find that your hands are still willing
Then you can turn a murder into art
There really isn't any need for bloodshed
You just do it with a little more finesse
If you can slip a tablet into someone's coffee
Then it avoids an awful lot of mess
It's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC's
It's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC's
Now if you have a taste for this experience
If you're flushed with your very first success
Then you must try a twosome or a threesome
You'll find your conscience bothers you much less
Because murder is like anything you take to
It's a habit-forming need for more and more
You can bump off every member of your family
And anybody else you find a bore
Because it's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC's
Murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC's
Now you can join the ranks of the illustrious
In history's great dark hall of fame
All our greatest killers were industrious
At least the ones that we all know by name
But you can reach the top of your profession
If you become the leader of the land
For murder is the sport of the elected
And you don't need to lift a finger of your hand
Because it's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC's
Murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your A, B, C, D, E
1, 2, 3, A, B, C
1, 2, 3, A, B, C
1, 2, 3, A, B, C
Because it's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC
Murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your A, B, C, D, E
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
Murder by Numbers Lyrics as written by Gordon Sumner Andy Summers
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
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”
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
The first copy of the LP I bought did not have this track. A cassette version and a CD version did. It was also the B-side of the omnipresent "Every Breath You Take". Because that song was on virtually every jukebox in the universe during the Eighties, I used to get a kick out of playing "Murder by Numbers", which tagged along with EBYT on the jukeboxes in rednecky places, making everyone wonder, "What the hell is this?"
This song describes three more or less incompatible forms of killing. Serial killers tend to try to maintain normal lives, with the killing unknown to their (seemingly safe) families. Of course, the "sport of the elected", killing via war, is quite different. This song is, obviously, a dark satire in the spirit of "A Modest Proposal". It also has a political message if you work backwards: It suggests (implausibly) that a serial killer might go on to lead a country, but asks us to make the reverse connection: Leaders of nations are often de facto mass murderers.
I wonder if a few years later, Sting would have felt that this song was within the bounds of reasonable taste. It was around this time that various murders and suicides were alleged to have been caused by the influence of various rock music (much harder than the Police!) on teens. A case like this concerning Judas Priest took place two years after this song was released.