"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.
"Here's a song about every cowboy's real first love. It's not his horse, it's not his girl, and it's not his pick-up truck. Where have I heard that before? I sing this song a little different everywhere I go. This is the way them old boys down in Texas like to hear it."
I was born and raised way out west
But the thing I love 'bout livin' here best
It ain't the mountains, the valleys, the hats, or the boots
It's havin' plenty of guns and something to shoot
We got shotguns and sixguns, we got a shipload of guns
Shootin varments and critters, is a shitload of fun
I don't care about the money, I don't care about the loot
Give me Jack Daniel's whiskey and something to shoot
Now there's a whole herd of elk, right there in a line
But it's a pain in the ass to shoot 'em one at a time
And I'm way below quota; I've had a bad day
Boy what I wouldn't give for just one hand grenade
I don't care about the future, I don't care about the past
As long as I've got some creatures to blast
We got deer, we got elk, we got ol' owls that hoot
And when I've killed them all, they'll be Yankees to shoot
Don' 'cha tailgate me son get off my back
I gotta thirty-ought-six right here in the rack
And this ain't New Jeresy; We don't honk, we don't yell
And if you touch that bumper I'll blow you to hell
"Everybody sing a long with me now"
I was born and raised way out west
And the thing like 'bout livin' here best
It ain't the mountains, the valleys, the hats, or the boots
It's havin' plenty of guns and something to shoot
It's havin' plenty of guns and something to shoot
I was born and raised way out west
But the thing I love 'bout livin' here best
It ain't the mountains, the valleys, the hats, or the boots
It's havin' plenty of guns and something to shoot
We got shotguns and sixguns, we got a shipload of guns
Shootin varments and critters, is a shitload of fun
I don't care about the money, I don't care about the loot
Give me Jack Daniel's whiskey and something to shoot
Now there's a whole herd of elk, right there in a line
But it's a pain in the ass to shoot 'em one at a time
And I'm way below quota; I've had a bad day
Boy what I wouldn't give for just one hand grenade
I don't care about the future, I don't care about the past
As long as I've got some creatures to blast
We got deer, we got elk, we got ol' owls that hoot
And when I've killed them all, they'll be Yankees to shoot
Don' 'cha tailgate me son get off my back
I gotta thirty-ought-six right here in the rack
And this ain't New Jeresy; We don't honk, we don't yell
And if you touch that bumper I'll blow you to hell
"Everybody sing a long with me now"
I was born and raised way out west
And the thing like 'bout livin' here best
It ain't the mountains, the valleys, the hats, or the boots
It's havin' plenty of guns and something to shoot
It's havin' plenty of guns and something to shoot
Lyrics submitted by El_Brakiachi
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
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"
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
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.