"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.
Look around your world pretty baby
Is it everything you hoped it'd be
The wrong guy, the wrong situation
The right time to roll to me
Roll to me
Look into your heart pretty baby
Is it aching with some nameless need?
Is there something wrong
And you can't put your finger on it?
Right, then roll to me
And I don't think I have ever seen
A soul so in despair
So if you want to talk the night through
Guess who will be there?
So don't try to deny it pretty baby
You've been down so long you can hardly see
When the engine's stalled and it won't stop raining
It's the right time to roll to me
Roll to me
Roll to me
And I don't think I have ever seen
A soul so in despair
So if you want to talk the night through
Guess who will be there?
So,
Look around your world pretty baby
Is it everything you hoped it'd be
The wrong guy, the wrong situation
The right time to roll to me
The right time to roll to me
The right time to roll to me...oooh
Is it everything you hoped it'd be
The wrong guy, the wrong situation
The right time to roll to me
Roll to me
Look into your heart pretty baby
Is it aching with some nameless need?
Is there something wrong
And you can't put your finger on it?
Right, then roll to me
And I don't think I have ever seen
A soul so in despair
So if you want to talk the night through
Guess who will be there?
So don't try to deny it pretty baby
You've been down so long you can hardly see
When the engine's stalled and it won't stop raining
It's the right time to roll to me
Roll to me
Roll to me
And I don't think I have ever seen
A soul so in despair
So if you want to talk the night through
Guess who will be there?
So,
Look around your world pretty baby
Is it everything you hoped it'd be
The wrong guy, the wrong situation
The right time to roll to me
The right time to roll to me
The right time to roll to me...oooh
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
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.
I adore this song! Definitely brings back old memories.
I really do think it's about a guy who is interested in a girl because he specifically says, "the wrong guy, the wrong situation, the right time to roll to me." I mean, by addressing she's with the WRONG guy, it implies he might be the RIGHT guy. I can see it applying to more general situations too, though.
"Look into your heart pretty baby, is it aching with some nameless need? If there's something wrong and you can't put your finger on it, right then, roll with me." These lines really, really hit home with me. You know those moments in life when almost everything is going smoothly, exactly how it should be, yet you aren't quite happy? You should feel incredible yet you are left feeling discontent, as if "the engine's stalled and it won't stop raining."
I think this song is about a girl who is in a relationship that isn't horrible, but she's still unhappy. She views her life as mediocre. The speaker sees this, and he thinks he can be everything she is looking for, and he's willing to be there as both a friend and lover.