"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.
The greyhound's rocking out tonight
To maximum rockabilly
When two punks chose to risk the subway
For a tube to Picadilly
And the Zephrys stir fast gangs for glory
Another dumb casualty
Having fun
In South West six
When a hidden flick knife flicks
Kiss me deadly tonight
Another battle was won and lost
Down The Bishops End last night
Spotlights pick the kids in triumph
With a thousand scarves in flight, see how they run
Spring from the terraces in black and white
Young and old into the fight
Having fun
In South West six
With violence for a fix
Kiss me deadly tonight
Seven o'clock they stand in rank
For the thirty bus uptown
And later in a downstairs room
She pulls her lover down
In ecstacy but they can't make a sound
Case her mother might come down
Having fun
In South West six
Discovers teenage sex
Kiss me deadly tonight
The snooker hall is empty
'Cause they're all out playing pool
Hustling down the Fulham Road
Doing deals with Mr.Cool
They're on the waterfront now instead of school
Too old now to dig pinball
Having fun
In South West six
Having fun
When a hidden flick knife flicks
With violence for a fix
Discovers teenage sex
Tried shooting up for kicks
Kiss me deadly
Kiss me deadly
Kiss me deadly
Kiss me
Kiss me tonight
To maximum rockabilly
When two punks chose to risk the subway
For a tube to Picadilly
And the Zephrys stir fast gangs for glory
Another dumb casualty
Having fun
In South West six
When a hidden flick knife flicks
Kiss me deadly tonight
Another battle was won and lost
Down The Bishops End last night
Spotlights pick the kids in triumph
With a thousand scarves in flight, see how they run
Spring from the terraces in black and white
Young and old into the fight
Having fun
In South West six
With violence for a fix
Kiss me deadly tonight
Seven o'clock they stand in rank
For the thirty bus uptown
And later in a downstairs room
She pulls her lover down
In ecstacy but they can't make a sound
Case her mother might come down
Having fun
In South West six
Discovers teenage sex
Kiss me deadly tonight
The snooker hall is empty
'Cause they're all out playing pool
Hustling down the Fulham Road
Doing deals with Mr.Cool
They're on the waterfront now instead of school
Too old now to dig pinball
Having fun
In South West six
Having fun
When a hidden flick knife flicks
With violence for a fix
Discovers teenage sex
Tried shooting up for kicks
Kiss me deadly
Kiss me deadly
Kiss me deadly
Kiss me
Kiss me tonight
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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"
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
I can't believe Billy Idol of all people wrote such a f-ing great song. This song descibes his experiences as a teenager up in west London, so a lot of the imagery and locations cited in the lyrics won't be familar to anyone in Amercia. The Greyhound is pub and the 'battle' he's talking about involves soccer hooligan supporters of Fulham FC, whose colors are black and white. Fights between rival supporters are still a big problem in England. (Imagine if there were ten NFL teams in NYC and you played each of them twice a year.) Bishops End is right next to their stadium.
From what I can gather - the Zephyrs are model Fords that were sold around that time the UK.
The classic second verse discusses his losing his virginity - at the home of his girlfriend no less. The song winds up with him watching his friends grow up, turn to drugs, drop out and get killed. The 'having fun in South West Six' is turning into the "kiss" of death.
GREAT SONG!!
I can't believe Billy Idol wrote this, either. <br /> <br /> Partly because he didn't grow up in West London, but in Bromley (SE). In fact he was major part of the Bromley Contingent. <br /> <br /> Also because, it's so much better than anything else he ever wrote or got credited with. <br /> <br /> I suspect Tony James might have had a large hand in these lyrics and Idol just chipped in. Not sure, though. <br /> <br /> Anyway, it is a great song. Up there with the Jam's "When You're Young" as an ode to lost youth.<br /> <br /> And for the record, I couldn't give a fuck if it counts as real punk or hardcore or whatever.
@bobcatclay finally someone with some insight into the actual details of the song! thank you
fuckin amazing song.
it's beyond fuckin amazing. my favorite lines of it have to be "And later in a downstairs room She pulls her lover down In ecstacy but they can't make a sound Case her mother might come down."
yeah...it put me beside myself the first time i heard it. it still tends to. my favorite line is, 'another battle was one and lost...'
this song rules.. it was featured at the end of SLC punk.. that movies fucking awesome.. another good punk movie is Suburbia, thats a great one.
The snooker hall is empty 'Cause they're all out playing pool Hustling down the Fulham Road Doing deals with Mr. Cool
My all-time favourite song lyrics, those lines. They just seem to epitomize British youth culture. Standing around on the streets when you should be at school, doing deals you shouldn't be doing with the person you think is so cool, but then you grow up and realise he wasn't. It's basically about youth in Britain.
Great song, my girl friend and I can relate a lot to it...hehe =) One of my favorites of all time
putting this song in SLC Punk! was genius. It just related to the movie and the mood so well. and this is an amaaaaazing song. :]]]
I'm completely in love with this song. is SLC Punk any good, I havent seen it.
this is a good song, but it makes me soo sad :(
sometimes you need a sad song, though