"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.
To Rise, To Fall.
To Hurt, To Hate.
To Want, To Wait.
To Heal, To Save.
Can't hear it
We fear it
Awareness won't come near it
Distractive
Reactive
Disguised in spite of time
I never bared my emotion
My passion always strong
I never lost my devotion
But somewhere fate went wrong
Can't let them rape me again
Your venom's not family here
Won't let them fill me with
Fatalistic remedies
What if the rest of the world
Was hopelessly blinded by fear?
Where would my sanctity live?
Suddenly nobody cares.
It's never enough
You're wasting your time
Isn't there something I could say?
You don't understand
You're closing me out
How can we live our lives this way?
You tell me I'm wrong
I'm risking my life
Still, I have nothing in return
I show you my hands
You don't see the scars
Maybe you'll leave me here to burn.
What if the rest of the world
Was hopelessly drowning in vain?
Where would our self pity run?
Suddenly everyone cares.
Blood
Heal me
Fear
Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood
Swearing
Fear
Staring
Conviction made aware
Give up on misery
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret
Do you feel you don't know me anymore?
And do you feel I'm afraid of your love?
And how come you don't want me asking?
And how come my heart's not invited?
You say you want everyone happy
Well, we're not laughing.
And how come you don't understand me?
And how come I don't understand you?
Thirty years say we're in this together
So open your eyes.
People in prayer for me
Everyone there for me
Sometimes I feel I should face this alone
My soul exposed
It calms me to know that I won't
Blood
Heal me
Fear
Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood
Swearing
Fear
Staring
Conviction made aware
Give up on misery
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret
Blood
Heal me
Fear
Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood
Swearing
Fear
Staring
Conviction made aware
Learning from misery
Staring back at dissent
Leaving distrust behind
I'm inspired and content
To Hurt, To Hate.
To Want, To Wait.
To Heal, To Save.
Can't hear it
We fear it
Awareness won't come near it
Distractive
Reactive
Disguised in spite of time
I never bared my emotion
My passion always strong
I never lost my devotion
But somewhere fate went wrong
Can't let them rape me again
Your venom's not family here
Won't let them fill me with
Fatalistic remedies
What if the rest of the world
Was hopelessly blinded by fear?
Where would my sanctity live?
Suddenly nobody cares.
It's never enough
You're wasting your time
Isn't there something I could say?
You don't understand
You're closing me out
How can we live our lives this way?
You tell me I'm wrong
I'm risking my life
Still, I have nothing in return
I show you my hands
You don't see the scars
Maybe you'll leave me here to burn.
What if the rest of the world
Was hopelessly drowning in vain?
Where would our self pity run?
Suddenly everyone cares.
Blood
Heal me
Fear
Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood
Swearing
Fear
Staring
Conviction made aware
Give up on misery
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret
Do you feel you don't know me anymore?
And do you feel I'm afraid of your love?
And how come you don't want me asking?
And how come my heart's not invited?
You say you want everyone happy
Well, we're not laughing.
And how come you don't understand me?
And how come I don't understand you?
Thirty years say we're in this together
So open your eyes.
People in prayer for me
Everyone there for me
Sometimes I feel I should face this alone
My soul exposed
It calms me to know that I won't
Blood
Heal me
Fear
Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood
Swearing
Fear
Staring
Conviction made aware
Give up on misery
Turn your back on dissent
Leave their distrust behind
Wash your hands of regret
Blood
Heal me
Fear
Change me
Belief will always save me
Blood
Swearing
Fear
Staring
Conviction made aware
Learning from misery
Staring back at dissent
Leaving distrust behind
I'm inspired and content
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Fast Car
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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.
See, I have a different thought on the meaning of this song. The narrator is going through a tough bout with a disease or something and his wife/spouse is not there to comfort him/her. As seen by the "thirty years" part and rising and falling of their marriage. You could also go into the literal meanings of "blood heal me" being transfusions, and "fear change me" being his experiences in this situation changing them for the better.
I mean parts of it start to fall apart, and it is not the perfect interpretation, but it is the one I have been getting lately (been listening to the song for probably close to 8 years now).
@OctaVariuM8 That sounds more reasonable. The part where it says "Belief will always save me" also enhances that with a touch of religious faith that he ,The narrator, Believes will save him. He is not alone thought As heard hear: People in prayer for me<br /> Everyone there for me<br /> Sometimes I feel I should face this alone<br /> My soul exposed<br /> It calms me to know that I won't. There are other people there praying for his well being and being their for him but the wife part does completely make sense