"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.
Well I lived on the outskirts of town
In an eight room farmhouse, baby
When my brothers and friends were around
There was always somethin' doin'
Had me a couple of real nice girlfriends
Stopped by to see me every once in a while
When I think back about those days
All I can do is sit and smile
That's when a sport was a sport
And groovin' was groovin'
And dancin' meant everything
We were young and we were improvin'
Laughin' laughin' with our friends
Holding hands meant somethin' baby
Outside the club "Cherry Bomb"
Our hearts were really pumpin'
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
The winter days they last forever
And the weekends went by so quick
Went ridin' around this little country town
We were goin' nuts, girl, out in the sticks
One night me with my big mouth
A couple guys had to put me in my place
When I see those guys these days
We just laugh and say do you remember when
That's when a sport was a sport
And groovin' was groovin'
And dancin' meant everything
We were young and we were improvin'
Laughin' laughin' with our friends
Holding hands meant somethin' baby
Outside the club "Cherry Bomb"
Our hearts were really pumpin'
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Seventeen has turned thirty-five
I'm surprised that we're still livin'
If we've done any wrong
I hope that we're forgiven
Got a few kids of my own
And some days I still don't know what to do
I hope that they're not laughin' too loud
When they hear me talkin'
Like this to you
That's when a sport was a sport
And groovin' was groovin'
And dancin' meant everything
We were young and we were improvin'
Laughin', laughin' with our friends
Holding hands meant so much baby
Outside the club "Cherry Bomb"
Our hearts were really pumpin'
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
In an eight room farmhouse, baby
When my brothers and friends were around
There was always somethin' doin'
Had me a couple of real nice girlfriends
Stopped by to see me every once in a while
When I think back about those days
All I can do is sit and smile
That's when a sport was a sport
And groovin' was groovin'
And dancin' meant everything
We were young and we were improvin'
Laughin' laughin' with our friends
Holding hands meant somethin' baby
Outside the club "Cherry Bomb"
Our hearts were really pumpin'
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
The winter days they last forever
And the weekends went by so quick
Went ridin' around this little country town
We were goin' nuts, girl, out in the sticks
One night me with my big mouth
A couple guys had to put me in my place
When I see those guys these days
We just laugh and say do you remember when
That's when a sport was a sport
And groovin' was groovin'
And dancin' meant everything
We were young and we were improvin'
Laughin' laughin' with our friends
Holding hands meant somethin' baby
Outside the club "Cherry Bomb"
Our hearts were really pumpin'
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Seventeen has turned thirty-five
I'm surprised that we're still livin'
If we've done any wrong
I hope that we're forgiven
Got a few kids of my own
And some days I still don't know what to do
I hope that they're not laughin' too loud
When they hear me talkin'
Like this to you
That's when a sport was a sport
And groovin' was groovin'
And dancin' meant everything
We were young and we were improvin'
Laughin', laughin' with our friends
Holding hands meant so much baby
Outside the club "Cherry Bomb"
Our hearts were really pumpin'
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
Say yeah, yeah, yeah
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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.
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/
I remember hearing a story from a forestry worker in the small town where my grandparents lived how in his younger & wilder days he’d copped a beating from some other guys he knew & that he was being a pain in the arse & probably deserved it. – “Me & my big mouth. Some guys had to put me in my place. when I see those guys these days, we just laugh & say ‘do you remember when?’”
When I heard this song, it was almost as if he had written it!
@tsarzan Back in the day we fought and often just shook hands afterward and had a beer together. If not right after then within a day or two. We definitely didn't get a gun and start throwing lead over an ass whupping. <br /> <br /> Hell, me and my best bud got into it at least a couple times a week.
the lyrics an alot of other websites say,"thats when a smoke was a smoke" and thats what it sounds like to me
I think this is one of his best.
Listening to this song I can see it I like a movie.
I remember when a sport was a sport and not a political platform. Same, unfortunately, goes for some musicians like J.M. I dont like when they get political. IMO
A song about wanting to go back to your youth