"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 pressed my face against the glass
Smiled as my breath made some pattern or other
The world beneath unfurled before me like a sail
Glinted in gold from this rich dawn sky
Awaiting the ship they had told me would come
Quietly anticipating that which was to come
I couldn't yet see you, still obscured by the city
The towers of glass reflected your coming
Silhouetted on the sunrise
Did I blink as I watched? Did I close my eyes?
I was not alone, I think it was the first time
Watching you rise splendid and graceful
I cheered as you sailed, a greatness unknown
I laughed as I waved and imagined you saw me
In the streets of the city, the windows of buildings
A million faces gazing upwards in wonder
A million faces together and cheering and smiling
You were the warmth of their hearts, you were the sum of their dreams
In the coldness of morning you brought warmth to their lives
Giving this feeling of wonder I could not imagine
You unlocking these thoughts no book and no picture could ever convey
This feeling and morning had opened a door
I stepped into a new world, I watched you fly
Saw you as a friend, the spirit of dreams
I imagined a new world, lands far away,
And imagined those faces as you hung in their sky
I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world
I'm leaving ground, a new world and watching you fly
I stepped into, I stepped into a new world
I was not alone, I think it was the first time
I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world
I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world
Now I'm leaving home, leaving everything, leaving everything
I step into this new world leaving everything
I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world
I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world
Now I'm leaving home, leaving everything that I have ever known
I step into this new world leaving everything
Leaving everything, leaving everything
Smiled as my breath made some pattern or other
The world beneath unfurled before me like a sail
Glinted in gold from this rich dawn sky
Awaiting the ship they had told me would come
Quietly anticipating that which was to come
I couldn't yet see you, still obscured by the city
The towers of glass reflected your coming
Silhouetted on the sunrise
Did I blink as I watched? Did I close my eyes?
I was not alone, I think it was the first time
Watching you rise splendid and graceful
I cheered as you sailed, a greatness unknown
I laughed as I waved and imagined you saw me
In the streets of the city, the windows of buildings
A million faces gazing upwards in wonder
A million faces together and cheering and smiling
You were the warmth of their hearts, you were the sum of their dreams
In the coldness of morning you brought warmth to their lives
Giving this feeling of wonder I could not imagine
You unlocking these thoughts no book and no picture could ever convey
This feeling and morning had opened a door
I stepped into a new world, I watched you fly
Saw you as a friend, the spirit of dreams
I imagined a new world, lands far away,
And imagined those faces as you hung in their sky
I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world
I'm leaving ground, a new world and watching you fly
I stepped into, I stepped into a new world
I was not alone, I think it was the first time
I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world
I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world
Now I'm leaving home, leaving everything, leaving everything
I step into this new world leaving everything
I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world
I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world
Now I'm leaving home, leaving everything that I have ever known
I step into this new world leaving everything
Leaving everything, leaving everything
Lyrics submitted by EagleSword, edited by MailMan
Airships Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © ROB MOUNSEY D/B/A FLYING MONKEY MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Punchline
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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.
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.
The reason this is one of the best songs ever is because of its meaning. Ronan Harris is a very spritual man, which I respect beyond words. "Airships" is about the second coming of Christ, or the arrival of God to the Earth (the apocalypse). The reason this can be hard to believe is because of how peaceful it is. That's exactly why I love it so. When you hear a song themed around the apocalypse, it's fast, heavy and very angry -- because it's the end of the world! But Ronan Harris looked at it in a spiritual way. What is the end of the world but paradise? That's what he's saying. It's a futuristic take on the Second Coming. He describes a vivid image of God towering above even the tallest skyscrapers; in these days, man thinks he is God, but even the greatest monuments he has built are dwarfed by God's power. It makes me feel so hopeful, because in a bleak and godless future, Ronan Harris makes it clear that God is not an obsolete concept from an age long past -- He is still as powerful as ever, even a future so dark and desolate that no one can even believe in Him anymore.
"Leaving everything, and stepping into a new world..." Stepping into eternal paradise.