"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.
What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearing?
Can't you tell that your tie's too wide?
Maybe I should buy some old tab collars
Welcome back to the age of jive
Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey?
You can't dress trashy 'til you spend a lot of money
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound, funny
But it's still rock and roll to me
What's the matter with the car I'm driving?
Can't you tell that it's out of style?
Should I get a set of whitewall tires?
Are you gonna cruise a miracle mile?
Nowadays, you can't be too sentimental
Your best bet's a true baby blue Continental
Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's old junk
It's still rock and roll to me
Oh, it doesn't matter what they say in the papers
'Cause it's always been the same old scene
There's a new band in town but you can't get the sound
From a story in a magazine
Aimed at your average teen
How about a pair of pink sidewinders
And a bright orange pair of pants?
Well, you could really be a Beau Brummel baby
If you just give it half a chance
Don't waste your money on a new set of speakers
You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers
Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me
Alright
Ooh, what's the matter with the crowd I'm seeing?
Don't you know that they're out of touch?
Well, should I try to be a straight-A student?
If you are then you think too much
Don't you know about the new fashion, honey?
All you need are looks and a whole lotta money
It's the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound, funny
But it's still rock and roll to me
Can't you tell that your tie's too wide?
Maybe I should buy some old tab collars
Welcome back to the age of jive
Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey?
You can't dress trashy 'til you spend a lot of money
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound, funny
But it's still rock and roll to me
What's the matter with the car I'm driving?
Can't you tell that it's out of style?
Should I get a set of whitewall tires?
Are you gonna cruise a miracle mile?
Nowadays, you can't be too sentimental
Your best bet's a true baby blue Continental
Hot funk, cool punk, even if it's old junk
It's still rock and roll to me
Oh, it doesn't matter what they say in the papers
'Cause it's always been the same old scene
There's a new band in town but you can't get the sound
From a story in a magazine
Aimed at your average teen
How about a pair of pink sidewinders
And a bright orange pair of pants?
Well, you could really be a Beau Brummel baby
If you just give it half a chance
Don't waste your money on a new set of speakers
You get more mileage from a cheap pair of sneakers
Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me
Alright
Ooh, what's the matter with the crowd I'm seeing?
Don't you know that they're out of touch?
Well, should I try to be a straight-A student?
If you are then you think too much
Don't you know about the new fashion, honey?
All you need are looks and a whole lotta money
It's the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways
It's still rock and roll to me
Everybody's talkin' 'bout the new sound, funny
But it's still rock and roll to me
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Fast Car
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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”
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Billy Joel is such a talented artist and makes some great comments about society in this song. What I got from the song is that, no matter if its pop, funk, punk, grunge, new wave, emo, or any other type of rock, it all goes back to the roots of Rock and Roll. Also, in the same sense, no matter what is popular, it will always have the same influence on the people, with the current trends.
Weird Al wrote a parody to this song called "It's Still Billy Joel To Me", but Billy Joel and Christee Brinkley (who were together at the time) hated it, and it was never released on cd...but anyway, I love this song
The song has a lot of sarcasm directed at people obsessed with being in style, knowing the latest trends, and having the newest stuff.
Billy Joel is essentially saying that in the end, it's all about the music, not about being cool and current.
joking eh..... not funny..... well like i said i am a #1 ozzy fan along with alice in chains rob zombie acdc guns n roses metallica velvet revolver (gnr is better tho) van halen nirvana trapt etc etc etc well i just remember a time when someone was rocking back in their stool at MY house and fell str8 backwards and banged there head it was u phalupe so im not the one that was dropped and i remember we were like 4 and i remember we were eating fig newtons lol so u were the one that fell...... jp but its true tho
Couldn't you guys have emailed each other instead of wasting the space on this board?
Two retards took over this comment page... They should be baninnated! (Or at least delete their divel.)
Duh, be your own person.
billy got a lot of flac over this song, one critic said it was the worst rock tribute song ever written, i think it's very ironic and funny
Really, some people just seem sort of dense. Howcome few people understand the fact that it's a parody?
The only weak thing about this song is that the record version doesn't really get me going. Hearing it live is MUCH better.
LOL....ok then...i think i know who got dropped on their head when they were a baby...i'm joking...but anyway...billy joel music is awesome!!!!!!!