"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 was lying on the grass of Sunday morning of last week
Indulging in my self-defeat
My mind was thugged, all laced and bugged, all twisted, wrong and beat
A comfortable three feet deep
Now the fuzzy stare from not being there on a confusing morning week
Impaired my tribal lunar speak
And of course you can't become if you only say what you would have done
So I missed a million miles of fun
I know it's up for me
(If you steal my sunshine)
Making sure I'm not in too deep
(If you steal my sunshine)
Keeping versed and on my feet
(If you steal my sunshine)
I was frying on the bench slide in the park across the street
L-A-T-E-R that week
My sticky paws were into making straws out of big fat slurpy treats
An incredible eight-foot heap
Now the funny glare to pay a gleaming tare in a staring under heat
Involved an under usual feat
And I'm not only among but I invite who I want to come
So I missed a million miles of fun
I know it's up for me
(If you steal my sunshine)
Making sure I'm not in too deep
(If you steal my sunshine)
Keeping versed and on my feet
(If you steal my sunshine)
I know it's done for me
(If you steal my sunshine)
Not some and hard to see
(If you steal my sunshine)
Keeping dumb and built to beat
(If you steal my sunshine)
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
Indulging in my self-defeat
My mind was thugged, all laced and bugged, all twisted, wrong and beat
A comfortable three feet deep
Now the fuzzy stare from not being there on a confusing morning week
Impaired my tribal lunar speak
And of course you can't become if you only say what you would have done
So I missed a million miles of fun
I know it's up for me
(If you steal my sunshine)
Making sure I'm not in too deep
(If you steal my sunshine)
Keeping versed and on my feet
(If you steal my sunshine)
I was frying on the bench slide in the park across the street
L-A-T-E-R that week
My sticky paws were into making straws out of big fat slurpy treats
An incredible eight-foot heap
Now the funny glare to pay a gleaming tare in a staring under heat
Involved an under usual feat
And I'm not only among but I invite who I want to come
So I missed a million miles of fun
I know it's up for me
(If you steal my sunshine)
Making sure I'm not in too deep
(If you steal my sunshine)
Keeping versed and on my feet
(If you steal my sunshine)
I know it's done for me
(If you steal my sunshine)
Not some and hard to see
(If you steal my sunshine)
Keeping dumb and built to beat
(If you steal my sunshine)
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
My sunshine, if you steal my sunshine
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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"
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
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.
"tribal lunar-speak" is the key to the lyrics of the song. The female singer is referring to the "tribe" women belong to. Women's "cycles" are entrained on a 28 day rhythm. During the month 400-600 million little critters may enter "paradise" or Hell (=Her) and that may happen several times during a typical cycle from several different donors. At the end of 28 days, the cycle begins again. Males have their "sunshine" stolen. Only males produce gametes owing to the Y having "hijacked" the sex determining chromosome 300 mya. Proof of that interpretation? Near the end of the video a pregnant woman is shown baring her belly. Biology is key to understanding relations between men and women as portrayed in music video but mythology is no less important. "Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel is a good example where biology is important, however, the hammer is a mythological reference as is the symbol for Tao. The video opens to a bunch of sperm swimming next to and attempting to fertilize an egg.
@disintre Pretty awesome breakdown and theorizing. Thanks. That song had always seemed like gibberish to me.
@disintre your replying to a decade old comment who knows if this dudes even still alive
@disintre Geez. You skipped the entire song just to fulfill your own indulgence.