"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.
Every time I try to tell you how I feel inside
I always make the same mistakes
Tie myself in knots
Sometimes even make you cry
When all I ever want to say
Is nobody else in the whole wide world
Makes me feel this way
Nobody else in the whole wide world
Takes my breath away
Makes me feel so strange inside
Dazed confused and starry-eyed
I couldn't love you more
Makes me feel the wrong way round
Inside out and upside down
I couldn't love you more
And every time I try to tell you what I really mean
Nothing seems to come out right
End up murmuring foolishly
It makes me want to scream
How I get so stupefied
There's nobody else in the whole wide world
Makes me feel this way
There's nobody else in the whole wide world
Takes my breath away
Makes me feel so strange inside
Open mouthed and mystified
I couldn't love you more
Makes me feel so upside down
Muddle-headed round and round
I couldn't love you more
Makes me feel so strange inside
Dazed confused and starry-eyed
I couldn't love you more
Makes me feel the wrong way round
Inside out and upside down
I couldn't love you more
I always make the same mistakes
Tie myself in knots
Sometimes even make you cry
When all I ever want to say
Is nobody else in the whole wide world
Makes me feel this way
Nobody else in the whole wide world
Takes my breath away
Makes me feel so strange inside
Dazed confused and starry-eyed
I couldn't love you more
Makes me feel the wrong way round
Inside out and upside down
I couldn't love you more
And every time I try to tell you what I really mean
Nothing seems to come out right
End up murmuring foolishly
It makes me want to scream
How I get so stupefied
There's nobody else in the whole wide world
Makes me feel this way
There's nobody else in the whole wide world
Takes my breath away
Makes me feel so strange inside
Open mouthed and mystified
I couldn't love you more
Makes me feel so upside down
Muddle-headed round and round
I couldn't love you more
Makes me feel so strange inside
Dazed confused and starry-eyed
I couldn't love you more
Makes me feel the wrong way round
Inside out and upside down
I couldn't love you more
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
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.
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.
THE GUITAR CHORDS OF tHIS SONG ARE SO INSOLENTLY SIMPLE THAT IT REALLY TAKES GUTS TO MAKE A WHOLE SONG AROUND IT. tHAT BEING SAID THEY DID NOT OVERDO IT. ITS A PRETTY SIMPLE ARRANGEMENT. MATCHING AN OLD FOOL SITTING IN HIS ARMCHAIR AND LAMENTING OVER WHAT... SORRY ABOUT THAT. I LIKE THE SONG THOUGH.
A b-side off of "Friday I'm In Love," and also available on Join The Dots. The intro to this song was reused for another song of theirs; I think it's off Kiss Me... Can't remember. But anyways, the words "I couldn't love you more" were also recycled for "The End of The World."
"How Beautiful You Are."
it's actually a b-side to mint car ;) love the song though.
Such a lovely song... :)