"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.
It coulda been good
it coulda been something special
it may have had real potential
it never could show
It coulda been great
it could been something alright
but we never did keep it that tight
so whaddya know?
I get up at 5am I so don't need those dreams that I used to have
It coulda been swell
it coulda been off the hook now
if we ever had what it took now
I haven't a clue
I think it's as well
we may have been on the right track
finding all the pieces we lack
but what can you do?
Now I see that these are cards we drew some time ago, so if you don't know:
I can do it anywhere with anyone at anytime don't you forget
this is my life and it's going to be good, don't you know
not a promise or a threat or an ultimatum, though I can do that too
I'm just telling you, I've got this life I've got to live
I'm just following through
I dishonor the past
being so loose with my time
I could stand accused of high crimes
in the court of the dead
and I could be next
on a page about to turn soon
so I'm movin' my ass at high noon
you heard what I said
I could say I hope I'm not misread, but that's all right
I'm quite OK with losing that fight
it coulda been something special
it may have had real potential
it never could show
It coulda been great
it could been something alright
but we never did keep it that tight
so whaddya know?
I get up at 5am I so don't need those dreams that I used to have
It coulda been swell
it coulda been off the hook now
if we ever had what it took now
I haven't a clue
I think it's as well
we may have been on the right track
finding all the pieces we lack
but what can you do?
Now I see that these are cards we drew some time ago, so if you don't know:
I can do it anywhere with anyone at anytime don't you forget
this is my life and it's going to be good, don't you know
not a promise or a threat or an ultimatum, though I can do that too
I'm just telling you, I've got this life I've got to live
I'm just following through
I dishonor the past
being so loose with my time
I could stand accused of high crimes
in the court of the dead
and I could be next
on a page about to turn soon
so I'm movin' my ass at high noon
you heard what I said
I could say I hope I'm not misread, but that's all right
I'm quite OK with losing that fight
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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.
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.
It's about the desire to be with someone, and yet the realization that it's just not going to work out. Basic imcompatability accounts for a lost chance. He is establishing the fact that this person is important to him, yet that there is so many more people he could be seeing and having things work out with. Yet he cares enough to tell this person that it's "not a promise or a threat or an ultimatum". The person seems to not quite understand that fact though. Just thought I'd state my interpetation and/or the obvious. This is an awesome rockin' song. Why hasn't anyone said anything?
i agree that it could be seen like that, dressthepart, but i interpret it from the other perspective - maybe because of my life right now.
I see it as travis coming to grips with the ending of a relationship. He was happy in this relationship, but the other person ended it. Hes at the point where he feels that he can be happy with someone else, and that hes moved on and is ready to be happy again.
i always saw it as kindof... being involved with someone you don't want to commit to, like someone you have a physical relationship with who wants to be more serious, but you would prefer to remain single because you realize it wouldn't work out.
It's interesting how each of those interpretations were so different, and yet i can see all of them within this song. That's pretty cool.
I definitely see it more like him being in a relationship and wanting more. Because he mentions ultimatums, and he mentions that it "could've been good," the word could've implying to me that it didn't get the chance to develop into what he wanted.
I think it could be any one of those meaning. To me it seems like he's is not getting the girl he wants and hes trying to not waste his life thinking about it "I could stand accused of high crimes in the court of the dead and I could be next"
I duno i get the impresion he cant get something from that line and he is unhappy about it, hence the could be the next to die. i dont know if thats right but its how i see it, this song is unbelivable good though!
I'm pretty sure it's a song that is looking back on a relationship that had ended before it really got started. At the moment these two are still close or talk every now and again, but he is saying that things are different now and she can't hold him back from getting on with his life.
Based on the rest of the album, I'm going to agree with those who say it's about looking back on a past relationship and accepting that it's over and it's time to move on. He's kind of proving it to himself I think.
At a certain time in my life, this song actually gave me chills. I got into this band through a good friend (and ex) and after things ended (badly) between us, I was listening to the song and finally heard the words. They struck so true with me at the time. I couldn't get over the idea of the failed potential of our realtionship, which had been built up over a period of years of high school tension. When we finally were together, he was unable to follow through on my expectations or his own expectations. The part that starts "I can do it anywhere with anyone at anytime don't you forget" was what I wanted to be able to feel and say, but it took some time (and actually experiencing college life) to feel empowered enough to feel that I had a life to live outside of this failure.