"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 used to think maybe you loved me now, baby, I'm sure
And I just can't wait 'til the day when you knock on my door
Now every time I go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down
'Cause I just can't wait 'til you write me you're coming around
Now I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
And don't it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don't it feel good
Hey, yeah
I used to think maybe you loved me, now I know that it's true
And I don't wanna spend my whole life just a-waiting for you
Now I don't want you back for the weekend
Not back for a day, no, no, no
I said, baby, I just want you back
And I want you to stay
Oh, yeah
Now I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
And don't it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don't it feel good
Yeah, oh yeah
And don't it feel good
Walking on sunshine
Walking on sunshine, yeah
I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that's really real
I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that's really real
I'm on sunshine, baby, oh
Oh yeah, I'm on sunshine, baby, oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
And don't it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don't it feel good
I'll say it, I'll say it, I'll say it again now
And don't it feel good
Hey, yeah now
And don't it feel good
Now don't it, don't it, don't it, don't it, don't it, don't it feel good
I'll say it, I'll say it, I'll say it again now
And don't it feel good
Don't it, don't it, don't it, don't it, don't it and don't it feel good
Now tell me, tell me, tell me again now
And don't it feel good
Oh yeah, now
And don't it feel good
Oh, don't it feel good, don't it feel good
Now don't it feel good
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah, yeah
And I just can't wait 'til the day when you knock on my door
Now every time I go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down
'Cause I just can't wait 'til you write me you're coming around
Now I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
And don't it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don't it feel good
Hey, yeah
I used to think maybe you loved me, now I know that it's true
And I don't wanna spend my whole life just a-waiting for you
Now I don't want you back for the weekend
Not back for a day, no, no, no
I said, baby, I just want you back
And I want you to stay
Oh, yeah
Now I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
And don't it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don't it feel good
Yeah, oh yeah
And don't it feel good
Walking on sunshine
Walking on sunshine, yeah
I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that's really real
I feel alive, I feel the love, I feel the love that's really real
I'm on sunshine, baby, oh
Oh yeah, I'm on sunshine, baby, oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
I'm walking on sunshine, whoa-oh
And don't it feel good
Hey, all right now
And don't it feel good
I'll say it, I'll say it, I'll say it again now
And don't it feel good
Hey, yeah now
And don't it feel good
Now don't it, don't it, don't it, don't it, don't it, don't it feel good
I'll say it, I'll say it, I'll say it again now
And don't it feel good
Don't it, don't it, don't it, don't it, don't it and don't it feel good
Now tell me, tell me, tell me again now
And don't it feel good
Oh yeah, now
And don't it feel good
Oh, don't it feel good, don't it feel good
Now don't it feel good
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah, yeah
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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"
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
So, I actually looked up this song's meaning because I was listening to it and it kind of sounded like it was written by a crazy girl who refused to let go of a relationship. Maybe she is delusional and believes that he still loves her and will be back soon to be with her. Maybe I only thought of that because we don't know where he is, only that he's gone. Probably not right, but still a different take on it.