"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.
Hello girl it's been awhile
Guess you'll be glad to know
That I've learned how to laugh and smile
Getting over you was slow
They say old lovers can be good friends
But I never thought I'd really see you
I'd really see you again
I go crazy
When I look in your eyes I still go crazy
No my heart just can't hide that old feelin' inside
Way deep down inside
Oh baby, you know when I look in your eyes I go crazy
You say he satisfies your mind
Tells you all of his dreams
I know how much that means to you
I realize that I was blind
Just when I thought I was over you
I see your face and it just ain't true
No it just ain't true
I go crazy
When I look in your eyes I still go crazy
That old flame comes alive, it starts burning inside
Way deep down inside
Oh baby, you know when I look in your eyes I go crazy
Ooh, oh-ooh, oh
I go crazy
You know when I look in your eyes I go crazy
No my heart just can't hide that old feelin' inside
Way deep down inside
I go crazy
Guess you'll be glad to know
That I've learned how to laugh and smile
Getting over you was slow
They say old lovers can be good friends
But I never thought I'd really see you
I'd really see you again
I go crazy
When I look in your eyes I still go crazy
No my heart just can't hide that old feelin' inside
Way deep down inside
Oh baby, you know when I look in your eyes I go crazy
You say he satisfies your mind
Tells you all of his dreams
I know how much that means to you
I realize that I was blind
Just when I thought I was over you
I see your face and it just ain't true
No it just ain't true
I go crazy
When I look in your eyes I still go crazy
That old flame comes alive, it starts burning inside
Way deep down inside
Oh baby, you know when I look in your eyes I go crazy
Ooh, oh-ooh, oh
I go crazy
You know when I look in your eyes I go crazy
No my heart just can't hide that old feelin' inside
Way deep down inside
I go crazy
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
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.
Amazing this one hadn't yet been added- alas, that's been remedied. This is a song that always has a visceral impact on me, no matter how many times I listen to it. We most of us have someone who we 'still go crazy' over, and even if we don't, the earnestness of the lyrics and the open, vulnerable way in which Paul Davis sings could move even the coldest of human beings. I know that even as a child, way before I ever had a relationship, when I heard this song I'd get all melancholy. Man, am I ever a sentimental softy.
@ToroTrash Ditto. This one touches me deeply. I find myself forty or forty five years back and reliving some old hurts!
Definitely gives me a sense of melancholy. Many years after a relationship with a guy, I still think of him and I know that if I ever were to see him again I would feel exactly this way.
One of the greatest songs ever written! Paul's voice was so smooth, its really very nostalgic. His lyrics express losing a lover, and at one sight, falling back in love with them. Love makes you feel crazy sometimes, what can I say. Beautiful song
This song reminds me of "Same Old Lang Syne" by Dan Fogelberg. If you think about these two artists... Fogelberg and Davis.. there are a few similarities. Both were very smooth singers and they both had nice beards and long hair.
Here are the main characters in the song who never really got over this special love. Both women have moved on to me who either stimulate their minds or provide the security and stability they were yearning for. Alas, love was not enough for these women and the men are left out in the cold despite the strong feelings and love they had in their hearts.
It's really a testimony that you need a lot more than just love to make a relationship work. Both Dan and Paul have left us but we have their amazing legacy of music to reflect on.
That's a very nice analogy about this song and "Another Auld Lang Syne" by Dan Fodelburg. I love both songs, too. I don't know if Davis wrote his own songs, but Fodelberg did and he was immensely talented. Sad that both singers left this world fairly young.
I have heard this song thousands of times, and loved it, but never picked up on who sang it. I don't ever remember hearing of Paul Davis until I picked up this song on Pandora. It is a great lyric, so remorseful and passionate, and Paul's voice is incredibly smooth and emotional.
great love song, great lyrics paul is so smooth in singing this song, first heard it when i was 14yrs old, now i'm 48 and i still love this song.
The heart and mind can never forget a teenage romance that unfortunately fizzled out. Even 24 years later it can bring back vivid and profound bittersweet memories. This song is so emotionally melancholic that if played at the right time brings a tear to my eyes. So sad it almost makes me happy. A true romance or friendship will be painted and tattooed on your heart ,mind,and soul forever. A great song like this will jog your memory. Thank you for such a great ballad that helps keep love alive in this sometimes cold and bitter world.
This songs is kinda haunting! I love the way he says "oh baby" Great song always makes me cry!
one of the most beautiful songs i ever heard it makes me feel so melancolic
Definitely gives me a sense of melancholy. Many years after a relationship with a guy, I still think of him and I know that if I ever were to see him again I would feel exactly this way.