"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.
Blood stains the ivories on my daddy's baby grand
Ain't seen the daylight since we started this band
No more, no more
No more, no more
Store bought clothes fallin' 'part at the seams
Tea leaf readin' Gypsies fortune tellin' my dreams
No more, no more
No more, no more
Holiday Inn, lock the door with a chain
You love 'em and you hate it but to me they're all the same
No more, no more
No more, no more
No more, no more
Baby, I'm a dreamer
Found my horse and carriage
Stalemate jailbait, ladies can't refuse
You love 'em then you leave 'em with your sold out reviews
No more, no more
No more, no more
Sweet talkin' bar room, ladies' disease
Slippin' with her lips, slidin' down your knees
No more, no more
No more, no more
No more, no more
Made my life a screamer, bound to a wife in marriage
Baby, I'm a dreamer
Found my horse and carriage
Ladies hold the aces and their lovers call it passion
The men call it pleasure but to me it's old fashioned
Times they're a-changin' nothing ever stands still
If I don't stop changin' I'll be writin' my will
It's the same old story, never get a second chance
For a dance to the top of the hill
Babe, I'm a dreamer
Found my horse and carriage
Ain't seen the daylight since we started this band
No more, no more
No more, no more
Store bought clothes fallin' 'part at the seams
Tea leaf readin' Gypsies fortune tellin' my dreams
No more, no more
No more, no more
Holiday Inn, lock the door with a chain
You love 'em and you hate it but to me they're all the same
No more, no more
No more, no more
No more, no more
Baby, I'm a dreamer
Found my horse and carriage
Stalemate jailbait, ladies can't refuse
You love 'em then you leave 'em with your sold out reviews
No more, no more
No more, no more
Sweet talkin' bar room, ladies' disease
Slippin' with her lips, slidin' down your knees
No more, no more
No more, no more
No more, no more
Made my life a screamer, bound to a wife in marriage
Baby, I'm a dreamer
Found my horse and carriage
Ladies hold the aces and their lovers call it passion
The men call it pleasure but to me it's old fashioned
Times they're a-changin' nothing ever stands still
If I don't stop changin' I'll be writin' my will
It's the same old story, never get a second chance
For a dance to the top of the hill
Babe, I'm a dreamer
Found my horse and carriage
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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.
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.
Great song. Definitely one the most underrated Aerosmith songs. I wish this song got more airplay, but every great band has a few of those hidden gems that best not get tarnished with overplay.