"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.
In a pawn shop in Chicago
On a sunny summer day
A couple gazes at the wedding rings there on display
She smiles and nods her head
As he says, "Honey that's for you
It's not much, but it's the best that I can do"
Golden ring (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Waiting there (waiting there) for someone to take it home
By itself (by itself) it's just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring
In a little wedding chapel later on that afternoon
An old upright piano plays that old familiar tune
Tears roll down her cheeks
And happy thoughts run through her head
As he whispers low, "With this ring, I thee wed"
Golden ring (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Shining ring (shining ring) now at last it's found a home
By itself (by itself) it's just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring
Ooh-ooh
In a small two room apartment
As they fight their final round
He says, "You won't admit it
But I know you're leavin' town"
But she says, "One thing's for certain
I don't love you any more"
And throws down the ring as she walks out the door
Golden ring (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Cast aside (cast aside) like the love that's dead and gone
By itself (by itself) it's just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring
In a pawn shop in Chicago
On a sunny summer day
A couple gazes at the wedding rings there on display
Golden ring
On a sunny summer day
A couple gazes at the wedding rings there on display
She smiles and nods her head
As he says, "Honey that's for you
It's not much, but it's the best that I can do"
Golden ring (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Waiting there (waiting there) for someone to take it home
By itself (by itself) it's just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring
In a little wedding chapel later on that afternoon
An old upright piano plays that old familiar tune
Tears roll down her cheeks
And happy thoughts run through her head
As he whispers low, "With this ring, I thee wed"
Golden ring (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Shining ring (shining ring) now at last it's found a home
By itself (by itself) it's just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring
Ooh-ooh
In a small two room apartment
As they fight their final round
He says, "You won't admit it
But I know you're leavin' town"
But she says, "One thing's for certain
I don't love you any more"
And throws down the ring as she walks out the door
Golden ring (golden ring) with one tiny little stone
Cast aside (cast aside) like the love that's dead and gone
By itself (by itself) it's just a cold metallic thing
Only love can make a golden wedding ring
In a pawn shop in Chicago
On a sunny summer day
A couple gazes at the wedding rings there on display
Golden ring
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
Golden Ring Lyrics as written by Rafe Van Hoy Bobby Braddock
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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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.
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Plastic Bag
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“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.
the meaning of the ring through its lifecycle with the couple. The first refrain speaks of the promise of love shown in the glittering ring; the second verse talks about how "at last, it's found a home," and the finale tells of how the ring has been cast aside "like the love that's dead and gone." Each refrain ends with how a wedding band is meaningless without love. "By itself, it's just a cold metallic thing. / Only love can make a golden wedding ring
I love songs that cycle back to the original image like this. "In the Ghetto" does something similar. George and Tammy sound amazing on this song. It's a favorite of mine.