"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.
It might be late but it won't be early
You got me to the gate with time for a coffee
It's getting late, sounds like a departure
It's getting close, sounds to me like a departure
Until we meet again, let's stay engaged
Until then, let's stay engaged
Lies, over time, they float to the surface
Lies, over time, they equal surface
Lies, over time, though the reasons desert us
Lies, over time, with no apparent purpose
Until we meet again, let's stay engaged
Until then, let's stay engaged
You see the dead art and you see your reflection
You fear no art and you fear no reflection
But don't look at me, I'm not the artist in question
Sounds good to me but I'm not the artist in question
Until we meet again, let's stay engaged
Until then, let's stay engaged, let's stay engaged
You got me to the gate with time for a coffee
It's getting late, sounds like a departure
It's getting close, sounds to me like a departure
Until we meet again, let's stay engaged
Until then, let's stay engaged
Lies, over time, they float to the surface
Lies, over time, they equal surface
Lies, over time, though the reasons desert us
Lies, over time, with no apparent purpose
Until we meet again, let's stay engaged
Until then, let's stay engaged
You see the dead art and you see your reflection
You fear no art and you fear no reflection
But don't look at me, I'm not the artist in question
Sounds good to me but I'm not the artist in question
Until we meet again, let's stay engaged
Until then, let's stay engaged, let's stay engaged
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
Let's Stay Engaged Lyrics as written by Gordon Downie Robert Baker
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
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
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
This song means to me well just life, What is the point when you look "outside the box"? You live life for the experience but what is there to gain when it comes to the end? Thinking beyond that we are to gain purpose, but the purpose is to search. "somewhere beyond everything it's being balanced not for the sake of balance but balancing between the throes of learning and the entire thing entirely balancing." To me that just means that beyond life you're doubts will be recognised and justified =]
peace out =] (i'm not religious btw XD i'm just a tired agnostic LOL)
"You were a great You." - a top ten GD Line
Another Too Deep for us common folk, not even the wise can crack the mind of Gord Downie most days
Well a lot of what I'm about to say is really ridiculously obvious, but that's ok I just wanted other opinions.... At first, he's saying "fuck this relationship, I don't need her" But with time, he finds that he really misses her.
As for all this balancing business- I think it relates to how in every relationship, you keep thinking that you can find the perfect one, and your life will just be so great after you've found her. But every relationship takes work, even the strongest and happiest couples still get in arguments and have problems, they just find ways to balance it themselves. Yea, I love this song though. AND I'm American. Wanted that out there. Love Canada, it's kinda cold, but I still love it. ANd the Hip. Anyone wanna talk on AIM my sn is MADSCOOTERFOO.
Peace, love and God's blessings
This song has so many interlaced meaings to me that i can't even put it into words without going on for an hour. I've never figured it out and never loved the song more than when i try.
One theory is this song is about Fox Mulder from the X-Files. Lines like, "there's no one up above us" and "with the bureau chiefs and the shrugging spies". On the X-Files series, Mulder is often working against the establishment, as is the sentiment in this song ("You've got no busines in here brother"). Mulder is obsessed with UFO's so lines like "you see a light and then another" could be references to UFO's.
I can't decide- can some please tell me- is ysalvatore serious?
I think ysalvatore is serious. Love the blanace thing.