"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.
Today, everything was fine, fine, fine
Until 'round about, quarter to nine
Suddenly found myself in a bind, a bind
Was it something I said?
Something I read and manifested that's getting you down
Don't you dare come to bed with that ambiguous look in your eye
I'd sooner sleep by an open fire and wake up fried
Say what you will
Say what you mean
No, you could never offend
Your dirty words come out clean, clean
Tomorrow, what price will I pay?
Could I make it all up to you by serving coffee for two in bed?
Would you then give me the time of day?
I need a map of your head translated into English
So I can learn not to make you frown
You'd feel better if you'd vent
Put your frustrations into four letter words
And let them out on mine
The most weathered ears in town
So say what you will
Say what you mean
No, you could never offend
Your dirty words come out clean
Clean, clean
Clean, clean
Clean, clean
Say what you will
Say what you mean
No, you could never offend
Your dirty words come out clean
Say what you will
Say what you mean
No, you could never offend
Your dirty words come out clean, clean
Until 'round about, quarter to nine
Suddenly found myself in a bind, a bind
Was it something I said?
Something I read and manifested that's getting you down
Don't you dare come to bed with that ambiguous look in your eye
I'd sooner sleep by an open fire and wake up fried
Say what you will
Say what you mean
No, you could never offend
Your dirty words come out clean, clean
Tomorrow, what price will I pay?
Could I make it all up to you by serving coffee for two in bed?
Would you then give me the time of day?
I need a map of your head translated into English
So I can learn not to make you frown
You'd feel better if you'd vent
Put your frustrations into four letter words
And let them out on mine
The most weathered ears in town
So say what you will
Say what you mean
No, you could never offend
Your dirty words come out clean
Clean, clean
Clean, clean
Clean, clean
Say what you will
Say what you mean
No, you could never offend
Your dirty words come out clean
Say what you will
Say what you mean
No, you could never offend
Your dirty words come out clean, clean
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.
I love this song. It completely describes one of my pet peeves. People will tell you everything's fine and then sit around seething while you don't know what you did wrong. You want them to just lash out and just scream at you so that everything is out in the open, but they just want to sit in silence. "You'd feel better if you'd vent/put your frustrations into four letter words/and let them out on mine, the most weathered ears in town." That's exactly what I've wanted to say to so many different people.
Men always gripe that women do this all the time. They ask what's wrong and we say "fine" even when everything is not at all fine. I heard this song and that's what I thought of right away, and so I've promised myself I'll never do that!!!