"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.
So you don't wanna hear about my good song?
You don't wanna hear about how I am getting on
With all the things that I can get done
The sun is in the sky and I am by my lonesome
So you don't wanna hear about my good day?
You have better things to do than to hear me say
God, it's been a lovely day, everything's been going my way
I took out the trash today and I'm on fire
So you don't wanna hear about my good friends
You don't have the guts to take the truth or consequence
Success is in the eye of the beholder
And it's looking even better over your cold shoulder
I'm not suggesting you get to line me up for questioning
But Jesus think about the bridges you are burning and I'm betting
That even though you knew it from the start
You'd rather be a bitch than be an ordinary broken heart
So go ahead and talk about your bad day
I want all the details of the pain and misery
That you are inflicting on the others
I consider them my sisters and I want their numbers
God, it's been a lovely day, everything's been going my way
I took up croquet today, I'm on fire
I picked up the pieces of my broken ego
I have finally made my peace as far as you and me go
But I'd love to have you up to see the place
I'd like to do more than survive, I'd like to rub it in your face
Hey, it's been a lovely day, everything is going my way
I had so much fun today and I'm on fire
God, it's been a lovely day every thing's been going my way
Ever since you went away, hey, I'm on fire
I'm on fire, I'm on fire, I'm on
I'm on fire, I'm on fire
I'm on fire, I'm on
So you don't wanna hear about my good day?
You don't wanna hear about how I am getting on
With all the things that I can get done
The sun is in the sky and I am by my lonesome
So you don't wanna hear about my good day?
You have better things to do than to hear me say
God, it's been a lovely day, everything's been going my way
I took out the trash today and I'm on fire
So you don't wanna hear about my good friends
You don't have the guts to take the truth or consequence
Success is in the eye of the beholder
And it's looking even better over your cold shoulder
I'm not suggesting you get to line me up for questioning
But Jesus think about the bridges you are burning and I'm betting
That even though you knew it from the start
You'd rather be a bitch than be an ordinary broken heart
So go ahead and talk about your bad day
I want all the details of the pain and misery
That you are inflicting on the others
I consider them my sisters and I want their numbers
God, it's been a lovely day, everything's been going my way
I took up croquet today, I'm on fire
I picked up the pieces of my broken ego
I have finally made my peace as far as you and me go
But I'd love to have you up to see the place
I'd like to do more than survive, I'd like to rub it in your face
Hey, it's been a lovely day, everything is going my way
I had so much fun today and I'm on fire
God, it's been a lovely day every thing's been going my way
Ever since you went away, hey, I'm on fire
I'm on fire, I'm on fire, I'm on
I'm on fire, I'm on fire
I'm on fire, I'm on
So you don't wanna hear about my good day?
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
I don't even see this as a romantic song at all, I see this as dealing with one of those "friends" ... the type who don't give even half a shit about you. they are always willing to dump their bad days on you, but the minute you want to talk to them about anything, they lose interest.
"i'm not suggesting you up and line me up for questioning but jesus think about the bridges you are burning"
this bit goes shows that people like that, they're so self-involved, so selfish, that they don't notice nor care that the more they neglect people, the more bridges they burn.
I always joke that those kind of people, you could be in the middle of talking about your day and say something like "I'm on fire, I'm dying" and they wouldn't even notice what you'd said and just nod their heads and say "uh huh." when I first heard this song, I laughed, because of that line being in the song. :p
in the end, no matter how big of an asshole a not-such-a-friend is, you never quite feel angry enough to not care how they're treating you. it always makes you feel unloved.
I don't think it's about a lover at all. Everything about the song, from the music box beginning to the nursery rhyme ending are screaming CHILDHOOD. Not only that, but specifically neglected childhood. First of all, "You don't want to hear about my good day." What's the first thing mom says when you get home from school? "How was your day sweetheart?"
Her mom never asked how her day was. She was probably depressed or something, and chose to wallow in her "bad day" rather than pay any attention to her daughter. So the narrator never had a chance to talk about her good day. And the song grows with her. When she's young "I took out the trash today" is a representation of her trying to please her mother, to get some recognition, by doing chores, because that's what the simple mind of a child would come up with.
As she gets older the general neglect continues. "Success is in the eye of the beholder" could be continuing with the theme of trying to please the mom and not being enough, but it could also be blaming the mom. Perhaps the narrator doesn't try to be successful because it's in "the eye of the beholder" which is the "truth and consequences" of the mom's neglect.
And now the narrator is realizing that the mom is just a bitch. And the next stanza is the narrator saying she's accepted it(ish) and is moving on (sort of). And the "I'd love to have you up to see the place" makes way more sense if she's talking about her mom. She's resentful at this point of everything her mom has put her through, and she wants to rub her success in the face of that adversity in her moms face.
The ending nursery rhyme not only ties back to her trashed childhood, but also her resentment of what her mom did.
Just my thoughts. Would love to hear your feedback!
I do agree with you, Girl Anachronism. First time I listened to this song I thought about my mom, haha. But anyway, I think it definitely IS about chilhood and something related to her mother.
The full ending part (I think it's a jumprope song) is: Now the war is over Mussolini's dead He wants to go to heaven with a crown upon his head The lord says no He has to stay below All dressed up & No where to go
I think if I tried to connect this with the song I'd be going a little too far. But I'm going to anyway. Mussolini was a facsist dictator of Italy during world war II. He led Italy into the war & a nazi government until he was assasinated.
The lines in this song that urge to make this connection are: "i want all the details of the pain and misery that you are inflicting on the others" Possibly by putting this at the end of the song she's comparing her old lover to a horrible tyrant, causing pain & misery to so many? It's extreme, but I love it.
Ha... Gotta love the parody on "I Will Survive"
"I'd like to do more than survive, I'd like to rub it in your face!"
I think she still has feelings for him as she cares enough to want to let him know how she's doing without him. And is it just me or is she crying in the end? During the jump rope part.
showing how you are getting on once you moved on ..
except that she's not really over him yet- the lyrics are totally spot-on in describing how it is after rejection when you've realized it's over but you still care enough to try to prove you're better, to the point where just taking out the trash is a token of success.
hi, i think the line "i took out the trash" means she was finally able to get rid of the man she is talking to, he was the trash haunting her, and now she finally got the trash out..
oh wow. i relate to this song 100%. what a gem.
oh wow. i relate to this song 100%. what a gem.
WOW. Seriously how does she get this stuff spot on? Not only is her voice absoluty intising but the drums just flow so well with the piano. I love the "I took out the trash today and I'm on FIRE!"**What is that at the end of the song? "Now the ar is over and Pusaliny's dead..."
@InnerAJ It's "Now the war is over Mussolini's dead" Mussolini as in the Italian dictator.