"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.
Let me through
Paper and fist
Jessica numbers tell me if
We're clear
Write me a storm
Just tape the letter to the door
This thing is your mission
The lone wish and condition
Brave another road
Jessica numbers to the wall
Slip through
Ever the thief
Is posed to hero but we'll see
This thing is your mission
The lone wish and condition
Push me through
Counting the lies
Measuring all our shadows by
Old star
Shift into red
Just stick the numbers to the bed
Head-tripping on
The sadness as it passes
As word across
The window frosting out
Starting to feel the kicking here at last, yeah
Something worth keeping around
Let me through
Paper and fist
Jessica numbers give me this
Let's fall
Look where we land
Just write the answer on my hand
This thing is your mission
The lone wish and condition
This thing is your mission
The lone wish and condition
Jessica numbers how we do
Jessica numbers how we do
Jessica numbers how we do
Paper and fist
Jessica numbers tell me if
We're clear
Write me a storm
Just tape the letter to the door
This thing is your mission
The lone wish and condition
Brave another road
Jessica numbers to the wall
Slip through
Ever the thief
Is posed to hero but we'll see
This thing is your mission
The lone wish and condition
Push me through
Counting the lies
Measuring all our shadows by
Old star
Shift into red
Just stick the numbers to the bed
Head-tripping on
The sadness as it passes
As word across
The window frosting out
Starting to feel the kicking here at last, yeah
Something worth keeping around
Let me through
Paper and fist
Jessica numbers give me this
Let's fall
Look where we land
Just write the answer on my hand
This thing is your mission
The lone wish and condition
This thing is your mission
The lone wish and condition
Jessica numbers how we do
Jessica numbers how we do
Jessica numbers how we do
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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Little Feat
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
No idea what this song means. But god damn is it catchy.
this is the best new pornographers song!
I think this song is about getting a girl's phone number (i.e., Jessica's numbers). That's why he says to put the answer on his hand.
Sounds like phone numbers to me. In an interesting coincidence, I started dating a girl named Jessica around the time I first heard this song.
When I listen to this I always imagine it to be about some sort of war code, like the name of a real code used in like world war I & II, but I have no idea, and it could just be crazy talking about it..... I seriously have no idea what I'm talking about sometimes :)
I've always gotten the war vibe from this song as well. If you look at the title, it's not "Jessica Numbers", but "The Jessica Numbers" as though it's refering to a group with that given name, I always thought it was the title give to a certain company from a war.
i also have the feeling that its something related to the war. dont really know what exactly the song is talking about though.
yeah and the whole THIS MISSION IS YOUR MISSION....haha idk its a damn good song tho. i love the guitar and all the music in it.
this thing is your mission*
I love this song. On another website, it lists the lyrics to be "Let me through, paper and PISSED" instead of "paper in FIST", but this version with the fist makes more sense. ;)