"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.
Once upon a time, not too long ago, we took a day out in manchester
We all fall down, there's not enough hours in our day
Played a bit of football, fell in to the union, barged our way to the toilet
With the kung fu king, there's not enough hours in our day
I remember seeing someone dressed in a suit looking like a lunatic
And we all fall down, there's not enough hours in our trip
Well, academy cartwheel's breakin' your hands
We got lovely posters for sale
And we all fall down, there's not enough hours in our day
We like lovin yeah, and the wine we share
We like lovin yeah, and the wine we share
Finally made our way back to the train, rolling in to sheffield tonight
And we all fall down, there's not enough hours in our life
So try and guess my weight and wait at the station
We're whippin picadilly tonight
And it all falls down, there not enought hours in our life
We like lovin yeah, and the wine we share
We like lovin yeah, and the wine we share
We all fall down, there's not enough hours in our day
Played a bit of football, fell in to the union, barged our way to the toilet
With the kung fu king, there's not enough hours in our day
I remember seeing someone dressed in a suit looking like a lunatic
And we all fall down, there's not enough hours in our trip
Well, academy cartwheel's breakin' your hands
We got lovely posters for sale
And we all fall down, there's not enough hours in our day
We like lovin yeah, and the wine we share
We like lovin yeah, and the wine we share
Finally made our way back to the train, rolling in to sheffield tonight
And we all fall down, there's not enough hours in our life
So try and guess my weight and wait at the station
We're whippin picadilly tonight
And it all falls down, there not enought hours in our life
We like lovin yeah, and the wine we share
We like lovin yeah, and the wine we share
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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"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
It's actually a true story about a time when they were at Sheffield University, and they went up to Manchester Univesity to see a Beck concert. (The man in a suit is Beck)
Oh and the train station in Manchester is called 'Manchester Piccadilly' if you were wondering where the Piccadilly bit came from.
It's a University Student anthem, with references to the Student's Union, the many many many poster sales that occur there throughout the year. Someone dressed in a suit would be most out of place in a union. At least, that's how I see it. Sounds like a typical saturday when I was a fresher: Football, Union, then memory loss...
this song is about being a bright young thing and living completely oblivious of the 'real world' which is infact, ridiculous.
this is a fun song.
Sounds like it's basically a drug or booze fuelled day of mayhem, just going nuts with your friends.
I love "I remember seeing someone dressed in a suit, looking like a lunatic" - reminds me of similar alcohol related antics :)
Woooo! go manchester! so happy that 1 of my fave bands made a song bout manchester
Gomez rule!
This song is awesome.
I think its about a pychedilic experience. The band or a few of the members took some pychedilics and walked round manchester tripping - "there's not enough hours in our trip". Ive thought this for years ......... so it must be true :-)