"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.
Bring the toys out for the boys
Let the children make their noise
See the monsters in their metal cages
Turn the lights down in your soul
Cut the power to your heart
See the carcass in its dying rages
Machine men, cannibals of rust
Machine men, iron bites the dust
Machine men, built with feet of clay
Are coming to sweep you all away
What bitter vampire made you this?
Gave you life with its deathly kiss
Ground your limbs to bloody stew
Made a new machine of you
Turned a nightmare into day
Sucks your breath, takes your life away
Beating harder through your veins
Someone else's cold remains
Machine men, cannibals of rust
Machine men, iron bites the dust
Machine men, built with feet of clay
Are coming to sweep you all away
They're coming to sweep you all away
Machine men, cannibals of rust
Machine men, iron bites the dust
Machine men, built with feet of clay
Are coming to take you all away
Machine men, cannibals of rust
Machine men, iron bites the dust
Machine men, built with feet of clay
Are coming to take you all away
They're coming to sweep you all away
Iron, in the soul
Let the children make their noise
See the monsters in their metal cages
Turn the lights down in your soul
Cut the power to your heart
See the carcass in its dying rages
Machine men, cannibals of rust
Machine men, iron bites the dust
Machine men, built with feet of clay
Are coming to sweep you all away
What bitter vampire made you this?
Gave you life with its deathly kiss
Ground your limbs to bloody stew
Made a new machine of you
Turned a nightmare into day
Sucks your breath, takes your life away
Beating harder through your veins
Someone else's cold remains
Machine men, cannibals of rust
Machine men, iron bites the dust
Machine men, built with feet of clay
Are coming to sweep you all away
They're coming to sweep you all away
Machine men, cannibals of rust
Machine men, iron bites the dust
Machine men, built with feet of clay
Are coming to take you all away
Machine men, cannibals of rust
Machine men, iron bites the dust
Machine men, built with feet of clay
Are coming to take you all away
They're coming to sweep you all away
Iron, in the soul
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Machine Men, a phrase that to my knowledge was coined or at least popularized by another personal hero of mine, Charlie Chaplin in his famous speech at the end of the movie "The Great Dictator". The song seems to suggest that industrialization will eventually over-take humanity.