"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 want to tell you 'bout my good thing
I ain't disclosing no names but
He sure is a good friend and
I ain't gonna tell you where he comes from, no
If I tell you you won't come again, hey
I ain't gonna tell you nothin' but I do will, but I know, yeah
Now let me tell you 'bout my girl
Open up a newspaper and what do I see? Ahh, ah
See my girl, ah, looking at me
Ooh, and when she walks, she walks
Lemme tell ya, when she talks, she talks
And when she looks me in my eye
She's my baby, Lord, I want to make her mine, yeah
Tell me baby what you want me to do?
And you want me to love you, love some other man too?
Ain't gonna call me Mr. Pitiful, no
Oh, I don't need no respect from nobody, no, no
Ahh, no no, ahh
I ain't gonna tell you nothing I ain't gonna tell you no more, no
She's my baby, let me tell you that I love her so and, and
She's the woman I really want to love and let me tell you more, ooh
She's my baby, lemme tell you, she lives next door
She's the one a-woman, the one a-woman that I know
I ain't going, I ain't going, I ain't going tell you
I ain't going tell you one thing that you really ought to know, ooh
She's my lover, baby, and I love her so and
She's the one that really makes me whirl and twirl!
And she's the kind of lover that makes me me fill the whole world and
She's the one who really makes me jump and shout, ooh
She's the kind of girl, I know what it's all about
Take it on, take it, take it, take it
Ah, excuse me
Oh, will ya excuse me
I'm just trying to find the bridge
Has anybody seen the bridge?
Please
Have you seen the bridge?
I ain't seen the bridge!
Where's that confounded bridge?
I ain't disclosing no names but
He sure is a good friend and
I ain't gonna tell you where he comes from, no
If I tell you you won't come again, hey
I ain't gonna tell you nothin' but I do will, but I know, yeah
Now let me tell you 'bout my girl
Open up a newspaper and what do I see? Ahh, ah
See my girl, ah, looking at me
Ooh, and when she walks, she walks
Lemme tell ya, when she talks, she talks
And when she looks me in my eye
She's my baby, Lord, I want to make her mine, yeah
Tell me baby what you want me to do?
And you want me to love you, love some other man too?
Ain't gonna call me Mr. Pitiful, no
Oh, I don't need no respect from nobody, no, no
Ahh, no no, ahh
I ain't gonna tell you nothing I ain't gonna tell you no more, no
She's my baby, let me tell you that I love her so and, and
She's the woman I really want to love and let me tell you more, ooh
She's my baby, lemme tell you, she lives next door
She's the one a-woman, the one a-woman that I know
I ain't going, I ain't going, I ain't going tell you
I ain't going tell you one thing that you really ought to know, ooh
She's my lover, baby, and I love her so and
She's the one that really makes me whirl and twirl!
And she's the kind of lover that makes me me fill the whole world and
She's the one who really makes me jump and shout, ooh
She's the kind of girl, I know what it's all about
Take it on, take it, take it, take it
Ah, excuse me
Oh, will ya excuse me
I'm just trying to find the bridge
Has anybody seen the bridge?
Please
Have you seen the bridge?
I ain't seen the bridge!
Where's that confounded bridge?
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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
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
The "Crunge" is a name the band made up for a dance that could be done to this song. Page says they actually considered putting the steps to the dance on the album cover. Also, page originally recorded a version of this song in 1964 but did not release it. The book "Led Zeppelin: Heaven and Hell" is a great source of Zep info. It describes every single song the band ever recorded, most of them with quotes from band members. It also has an almost complete list of their concerts with set lists and interesting info about the band's activities at any given time. It also has a lot of information about Zeppelin bootlegs and different memorabilia and a very interesting interview with Jimmy Page. Also loads of pictures never before seen. The idiot who insulted John Paul Jones obviously has no understanding of Led Zeppelin's music, or music period for that matter. He only notices the flash of lead guitar and vocals. He's not capable of listening any deeper than that.