"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.
Lookin' at you through a misty moonlight
Katydid sing like a symphony
Porch swing swayin' like a Tennessee lullaby
Melody blowing through the willow tree
What was I supposed to do
Standing there lookin' at you
A lonely boy far from home
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Southern summer nights
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Read about you in a Faulkner novel
Met you once in a Williams play
Heard about you in a country love song
Summer night beauty took my breath away
What was I supposed to do
Standing there lookin' at you
A lonely boy far from home
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Southern summer nights
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Maybe it was Memphis (Memphis)
Maybe it was Southern summer nights (Southern summer nights)
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Every night now since I've been back home
Lie awake drifting in my memory
Think about you on your mama's front porch swing
Talking that way so soft to me
What was I supposed to do
Standing there lookin' at you
A lonely boy far from home
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Southern summer nights
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Maybe it was Memphis (Memphis)
Maybe it was Southern summer nights (Southern summer nights)
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Oh, you know it sure felt right
Oh, maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Memphis
But it sure felt right
Katydid sing like a symphony
Porch swing swayin' like a Tennessee lullaby
Melody blowing through the willow tree
What was I supposed to do
Standing there lookin' at you
A lonely boy far from home
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Southern summer nights
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Read about you in a Faulkner novel
Met you once in a Williams play
Heard about you in a country love song
Summer night beauty took my breath away
What was I supposed to do
Standing there lookin' at you
A lonely boy far from home
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Southern summer nights
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Maybe it was Memphis (Memphis)
Maybe it was Southern summer nights (Southern summer nights)
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Every night now since I've been back home
Lie awake drifting in my memory
Think about you on your mama's front porch swing
Talking that way so soft to me
What was I supposed to do
Standing there lookin' at you
A lonely boy far from home
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Southern summer nights
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Maybe it was Memphis (Memphis)
Maybe it was Southern summer nights (Southern summer nights)
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
But it sure felt right
Oh, you know it sure felt right
Oh, maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Memphis
Maybe it was Memphis
But it sure felt right
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
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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.
Punchline
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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.
Amazing
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Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
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.
This song is reminiscent of romantic magic. She considers the components that contributed to the situation: nature, sounds, time, location. The sweet, lonely boy's soul shines through in ways she always imagined like in a book, play, and love song. She lists the possible reasons the pure feelings surfaced, but the feelings of being right are what mattered. There is mystery in the long-term outcome, but the pure and real feelings are what matters. The feelings are nearly never-in-a-lifetime feelings that can never be forgotten or ignored.