"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.
Another night slips away
In other words I should say
There are no words he should say
There are no words
In his eyes I see the fear
That only time could disappear
If only time could re-appear
Now's the time
Somethin' to take it away to take it away to take it
Don't let it stay don't let it stay don't let it
The butterflies are passive aggressive
And put their problems on the shelf but they're beautiful
He'll realize the only thing that's real
Are the kids that kid themselves
And the demise of the beautiful
What is beautiful?
The multi-life is better than
The one we're in the one we knew
Cause everyone is seein' through everyone
They're steppin' on
His gold terrain
He's movin' on with bold refrain
His blatantly old campaign
Is movin' on
Somethin' to take it away to take it away to take it
Don't let it stay don't let it stay don't let it
The butterflies are passive aggressive
And put their problems on the shelf but they're beautiful
He'll realize the only thing that's real
Are the kids that kid themselves
And the demise of the beautiful
What is beautiful?
What can't stay goes away
It starts stopping when it stops stopping
In other words I should say
There are no words he should say
There are no words
In his eyes I see the fear
That only time could disappear
If only time could re-appear
Now's the time
Somethin' to take it away to take it away to take it
Don't let it stay don't let it stay don't let it
The butterflies are passive aggressive
And put their problems on the shelf but they're beautiful
He'll realize the only thing that's real
Are the kids that kid themselves
And the demise of the beautiful
What is beautiful?
The multi-life is better than
The one we're in the one we knew
Cause everyone is seein' through everyone
They're steppin' on
His gold terrain
He's movin' on with bold refrain
His blatantly old campaign
Is movin' on
Somethin' to take it away to take it away to take it
Don't let it stay don't let it stay don't let it
The butterflies are passive aggressive
And put their problems on the shelf but they're beautiful
He'll realize the only thing that's real
Are the kids that kid themselves
And the demise of the beautiful
What is beautiful?
What can't stay goes away
It starts stopping when it stops stopping
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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.
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.
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,
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.
FYI.. passive aggressive means stubborn. "butterflies," which are usually symbols for innocence, as in the weezer song "butterfly," avoid their problems and never deal with them, but they're still beautiful even if they're not perfect. such as..children are beautiful in all their naivety. and the rest of the stanza goes on to say that beauty is always corrupted, even if we lie to ourselves.
mmhmm. :)
Finally someone discussing the MEANING.
This song really gets to me. Although the butterfly line has puzzled me for some time, I've been thinking and reading all of these quotes and I've tried to synthesize the entire chorus into a meaningful concept.
Butterflies are fragile, soft, and innocent. Passive-aggressive to me has to do with taking a situation in which you should stand up for yourself, and instead avoiding conflict and complaining about the situation later. So the passive-aggressive butterflies are ignoring and avoiding their problems (putting them on the shelf, so to speak), but they're beautiful. Incidentally, in conflict, girls are often guilty of passive-aggression, which relates back to the gentle, soft, innocent connotations that butterflies carry as stereotypical perceptions of femininity. To deny your problems like this would probably be described as "kidding yourself"--nobody can deny that problems exist and need to be dealt with. If Ben is singing this song to some male character who sounds heartbroken, then I think the chorus is about someone breaking your heart because they let all the resentment and unpleasantness build up. But everyone he finds will be like that. Sociologists say that anything perceived as real will resultingly have real consequences (the Thomas dictum). The real consequences of kidding yourself must be "the demise of the beautiful." So, the end of the butterflies--their innocense, or maybe just their life. But then Ben asks "What is beautiful?" to remind us that there are more butterflies than we might initially see. I'm not sure that this made any sense.
I think this song is about coming out of depression.
i think, butterflies are passive aggressive because even they live only for a short time they don't seem like they're making it a big deal. they just show their beauty, flying happily... and for people mortallity is a huge problem and we spend our days worrying about death instead of seeing the beauty inside us. and to see the butterflies flying with their beautiful wings and not caring shortness of their lives, makes you feel sick.... this is the harm they give but it's not obvious. they're being passive aggresive in this way.
all i can say is that this song is beautiful. I heard it when he played in ATL. It's a great song..that one line "what is beautiful?" just makes you think about beauty and all the things we think are beautiful, and those things that we think arent, but really are.
this song is AMAZING...no other word to describe it...the lyrics are just so...great...hes an amazing kid.
this song is so beautiful, anyone who's hooked up, just how much of a trip and a journey it all is, about all the things that you wish for, all the things that you trod through, all the things you come to learn, all the things you find that you love. and how when you find that you two have come to some end, your starting all over again. i absolutely love this song,
it is ok but Im think some one should produce it
this song is really really beautiful
I just downloaded this song and all I have to say is...wow. This song is amazing.