"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.
puppets, cannibals, satellite shadows,
businessmen, inmates, free thinkers, and cattle.
(dumb this down.)
birds on power lines, lion heads on mantles, pop idol pawns,
dead presidents, live poets, and dust mites.
(dumb this down.)
hookers on birth control, men on wanted posters, the women who love them,
dinosaurs, inbreds, and alien holograms.
(dumb this down.)
b-52 pilots and other airborne bacteria,
children born with stds and the sons of rich tyrants�
(dumb this down.)
bewildered herds, sharpen your teeth.
remember these three quotes.
only lie to cameras, cops, and crooks.
see kindness is within our power, but fondness is not.
under the false umbrella of hope, lives are sold, and people are bought.
somebody once told me: all men were created equal.
you�re not created in the womb,
you�re created in a classroom by rich people,
and history is written through the eyes of the butcher.
those who benefit from an ignorant public condescend and insult you.
they built you in the image of slaves; the freemen got locked up.
as long as they control the means of selling beliefs, no man is equal.
if there�s a policeman living in your head, you�re not free.
cuz if free trade were real, everyone would own a company.
all that is solid has melted into air,
it doesn�t matter who you vote for, the government will always get in.
all that was once solid has melted into air,
one hundred thousand lemmings can�t be wrong�
people join the army to pay for college.
in California residents go to college for free.
what will you do?
smoke weed on the weekends and go hiking?
or serve a white collar death squad of an oil company military.
everybody want heaven but nobody wants dead.
we are living in a rich man�s heaven, a poor man�s hell.
the middle class is dwindling, the population is doubling,
we are not living in Rome, we have been living in a fiefdom.
so when they remap all the genomes, remember.
it�s a hate free zone�
cuz money doesn�t care who burns it.
the word is a killer virus:
i�m not a happy plant, so i carry diseases.
so the ones who are starved of knowledge can someday flourish
and punish all those who stood between us.
quit your job, start a business and read more.
all that was once solid has melted into air.
they left the door open cuz the best illusions are half real.
puppets, cannibals, satellite shadows,
businessmen, inmates, free thinkers, and cattle.
(dumb this down.)
birds on power lines, lion heads on mantles, pop idol pawns,
dead presidents, live poets, and dust mites.
(dumb this down.)
hookers on birth control, men on wanted posters, the women who love them,
dinosaurs, inbreds, and alien holograms.
(dumb this down.)
b-52 pilots and other airborne bacteria,
children born with stds and the sons of rich tyrants�
(dumb this down.)
businessmen, inmates, free thinkers, and cattle.
(dumb this down.)
birds on power lines, lion heads on mantles, pop idol pawns,
dead presidents, live poets, and dust mites.
(dumb this down.)
hookers on birth control, men on wanted posters, the women who love them,
dinosaurs, inbreds, and alien holograms.
(dumb this down.)
b-52 pilots and other airborne bacteria,
children born with stds and the sons of rich tyrants�
(dumb this down.)
bewildered herds, sharpen your teeth.
remember these three quotes.
only lie to cameras, cops, and crooks.
see kindness is within our power, but fondness is not.
under the false umbrella of hope, lives are sold, and people are bought.
somebody once told me: all men were created equal.
you�re not created in the womb,
you�re created in a classroom by rich people,
and history is written through the eyes of the butcher.
those who benefit from an ignorant public condescend and insult you.
they built you in the image of slaves; the freemen got locked up.
as long as they control the means of selling beliefs, no man is equal.
if there�s a policeman living in your head, you�re not free.
cuz if free trade were real, everyone would own a company.
all that is solid has melted into air,
it doesn�t matter who you vote for, the government will always get in.
all that was once solid has melted into air,
one hundred thousand lemmings can�t be wrong�
people join the army to pay for college.
in California residents go to college for free.
what will you do?
smoke weed on the weekends and go hiking?
or serve a white collar death squad of an oil company military.
everybody want heaven but nobody wants dead.
we are living in a rich man�s heaven, a poor man�s hell.
the middle class is dwindling, the population is doubling,
we are not living in Rome, we have been living in a fiefdom.
so when they remap all the genomes, remember.
it�s a hate free zone�
cuz money doesn�t care who burns it.
the word is a killer virus:
i�m not a happy plant, so i carry diseases.
so the ones who are starved of knowledge can someday flourish
and punish all those who stood between us.
quit your job, start a business and read more.
all that was once solid has melted into air.
they left the door open cuz the best illusions are half real.
puppets, cannibals, satellite shadows,
businessmen, inmates, free thinkers, and cattle.
(dumb this down.)
birds on power lines, lion heads on mantles, pop idol pawns,
dead presidents, live poets, and dust mites.
(dumb this down.)
hookers on birth control, men on wanted posters, the women who love them,
dinosaurs, inbreds, and alien holograms.
(dumb this down.)
b-52 pilots and other airborne bacteria,
children born with stds and the sons of rich tyrants�
(dumb this down.)
Lyrics submitted by Crusader74
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
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”
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.
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.
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.