"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.
I'm watching the mountains I'm watching the sea
Observing the creatures I am lost, set me free
Across the heavens I made my way
I've seen empires rise and blown away
I have arrived at my destiny but after all there's just emptiness in me
Dot in the darkness, I am going mad
Where are the others, there's silence in my head
Cause I'm watcher in the sky
I've seen universes die
Out in the cold my systems overload
I am lost in time
Watcher in the sky
I'm trapped in this nightmare
Endless tortures and pain, millenniums have gone by
Uh, it drives me insane
Who am I now?
I'm not man, I'm not machine
I gave my life away for the Iron Savior dream
Cause I'm watcher in the sky
Hooked to the circuits of a lifeless, cold machine
Lost in a world of artificial means
Ripped out of my body
I'll stand the rest of time
Am I perpetual? Am I divine?
I'm a watcher in the sky
My soul has drowned in the tears I cannot cry
I'm the watcher the chosen one but I am lost in time
I'm a watcher in the sky I've seen the years go by
I am the chosen one
Out in the cold my systems overload and I am lost in time
Watcher in the sky
Watching the mountains, watching the sea, watching the creatures
You'll never be free
Watcher in the sky
Observing the creatures I am lost, set me free
Across the heavens I made my way
I've seen empires rise and blown away
I have arrived at my destiny but after all there's just emptiness in me
Dot in the darkness, I am going mad
Where are the others, there's silence in my head
Cause I'm watcher in the sky
I've seen universes die
Out in the cold my systems overload
I am lost in time
Watcher in the sky
I'm trapped in this nightmare
Endless tortures and pain, millenniums have gone by
Uh, it drives me insane
Who am I now?
I'm not man, I'm not machine
I gave my life away for the Iron Savior dream
Cause I'm watcher in the sky
Hooked to the circuits of a lifeless, cold machine
Lost in a world of artificial means
Ripped out of my body
I'll stand the rest of time
Am I perpetual? Am I divine?
I'm a watcher in the sky
My soul has drowned in the tears I cannot cry
I'm the watcher the chosen one but I am lost in time
I'm a watcher in the sky I've seen the years go by
I am the chosen one
Out in the cold my systems overload and I am lost in time
Watcher in the sky
Watching the mountains, watching the sea, watching the creatures
You'll never be free
Watcher in the sky
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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"
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.
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
A slightly different version was also featured in the Iron Savior album - a side project founded by Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray), Thomen Stauch (Blind Guardian) & Piet Sielck.
"Who am I now? I'm not man, I'm not machine I gave my life away for the Iron Savior dream"
I love that part. One of their best songs...
I don't understand this song. Why is the singer trapped? He has free will. He has choice. Every action has a reaction. Very confused. Overall good lyrics, though.
He is trapped in his eternal life