"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 still waiting, sitting by the telephone it rings
once again, not from you,
but what could I expect?
Contemplating, past and present situations that
came to us, far too much,
but what could you expect?
One heart beating, torn apart by reminiscing a about, all the times, I spent alone
happier than you
Sick of wasting
all my precious time on you
and now it's time you realized it's through
Running circles in my head,
turning back the hands of time
Was a time you wished me dead,
wasn't thought as out of line
To you it's right to me it's wrong,
should be taken as a sign
A reason to believe That everything is wonderful
i try to get in touch with my old self
I'm searching for relief
to find the strength inside of me
to cut you off and take you off that shelf
I try to find a way, to fade you to a memory
but it's hard to try and make you understand
That there's a reason to believe,
that anything is possible
you've crossed the line and here I make my stand
Time is moving fast,
and I don't want to turn around Because
I'm scared of what you may have left for me
I'm blocking out the past
to look ahead to future days
when you'll be gone and not be part of me
you can't control my thoughts,
or be the one to choose what I believe
Running circles in my head,
turning back the hands of time
Was a time you wished me dead,
wasn't thought as out of line
In a daze I pull you close,
make believe that you are mine
I step back and pull away,
and you have to ask me why
once again, not from you,
but what could I expect?
Contemplating, past and present situations that
came to us, far too much,
but what could you expect?
One heart beating, torn apart by reminiscing a about, all the times, I spent alone
happier than you
Sick of wasting
all my precious time on you
and now it's time you realized it's through
Running circles in my head,
turning back the hands of time
Was a time you wished me dead,
wasn't thought as out of line
To you it's right to me it's wrong,
should be taken as a sign
A reason to believe That everything is wonderful
i try to get in touch with my old self
I'm searching for relief
to find the strength inside of me
to cut you off and take you off that shelf
I try to find a way, to fade you to a memory
but it's hard to try and make you understand
That there's a reason to believe,
that anything is possible
you've crossed the line and here I make my stand
Time is moving fast,
and I don't want to turn around Because
I'm scared of what you may have left for me
I'm blocking out the past
to look ahead to future days
when you'll be gone and not be part of me
you can't control my thoughts,
or be the one to choose what I believe
Running circles in my head,
turning back the hands of time
Was a time you wished me dead,
wasn't thought as out of line
In a daze I pull you close,
make believe that you are mine
I step back and pull away,
and you have to ask me why
Lyrics submitted by BalafrE
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"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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,
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.