"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.
[Verse]
Marie has set up home
With a man who's half my age
A halfwit in a leotard
Stands on my stage
[Pre-Chorus]
The standards have fallen
My value has dropped
But don't shed a tear
Some walk like they own the place
Whilst others creep in fear
Try if you can to walk like a man
But you don't come near
[Chorus]
You've got to fly like an eagle
Prowl like a lion in Africa
Leap like a salmon
Home from the sea
To keep up with me
You've got to walk like a panther tonight
Walk like a panther tonight
[Verse]
The old hometown just looks the same
Like a derelict man who had died out of shame
Like a jumble sale left out in the rain
It's not good, it's not right
[Pre-Chorus]
The standards have fallen
My value has dropped
But don't shed a tear
Some walk like they own the place
Whilst others creep in fear
Try if you can to walk like a man
But you, you don't come near
[Chorus]
You've got to fly like an eagle
Prowl like a lion in Africa
Leap like a salmon
Home from the sea
To keep up with me
You've got to walk like a panther tonight
Walk like a panther tonight
[Verse]
Where did you leave all self-respect?
You look like a reptile, your house is a wreck
Your existence an insult
Stains that are suspect cover your clothes
[Pre-Chorus]
The standards have fallen
My value has dropped
But don't shed a tear
Some walk like they own the place
Whilst others creep in fear
Try if you can to walk like a man
But you, you don't come near
[Chorus]
You've got to fly like an eagle
Prowl like a lion in Africa
Leap like a salmon
Home from the sea
To keep up with me
You've got to walk like a panther tonight
[Outro]
Walk like a panther tonight
Walk like a panther tonight
Walk like a panther tonight
You've got to walk like a panther
Walk like a panther tonight
Tonight
Tonight
Walk like a panther tonight
Marie has set up home
With a man who's half my age
A halfwit in a leotard
Stands on my stage
[Pre-Chorus]
The standards have fallen
My value has dropped
But don't shed a tear
Some walk like they own the place
Whilst others creep in fear
Try if you can to walk like a man
But you don't come near
[Chorus]
You've got to fly like an eagle
Prowl like a lion in Africa
Leap like a salmon
Home from the sea
To keep up with me
You've got to walk like a panther tonight
Walk like a panther tonight
[Verse]
The old hometown just looks the same
Like a derelict man who had died out of shame
Like a jumble sale left out in the rain
It's not good, it's not right
[Pre-Chorus]
The standards have fallen
My value has dropped
But don't shed a tear
Some walk like they own the place
Whilst others creep in fear
Try if you can to walk like a man
But you, you don't come near
[Chorus]
You've got to fly like an eagle
Prowl like a lion in Africa
Leap like a salmon
Home from the sea
To keep up with me
You've got to walk like a panther tonight
Walk like a panther tonight
[Verse]
Where did you leave all self-respect?
You look like a reptile, your house is a wreck
Your existence an insult
Stains that are suspect cover your clothes
[Pre-Chorus]
The standards have fallen
My value has dropped
But don't shed a tear
Some walk like they own the place
Whilst others creep in fear
Try if you can to walk like a man
But you, you don't come near
[Chorus]
You've got to fly like an eagle
Prowl like a lion in Africa
Leap like a salmon
Home from the sea
To keep up with me
You've got to walk like a panther tonight
[Outro]
Walk like a panther tonight
Walk like a panther tonight
Walk like a panther tonight
You've got to walk like a panther
Walk like a panther tonight
Tonight
Tonight
Walk like a panther tonight
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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More Featured Meanings
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
Midnight
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Midnight” is a song about finding a love that is so true that it provides a calming feeling through every storm. Ed Sheeran reflects on his good fortunes in landing someone with such peace and support and speaks of not fearing the dark days because he knows they’ll all end in the safety nets of her arms.
“Well, good morning there / What a way to start the day / With everything laid bare,” Ed Sheeran sings in the first verse, enthusiastic to be waking up beside his woman. He apologizes for missing her calls in the second verse and promises to return them because for him, speaking to her is the most important thing. “Well, I get lost inside my head / In this chaos, you’re my calm / And I will find my feet again / ‘Cause еven the worst days of my life will always еnd / At midnight in your arms,” sings Ed Sheeran in the chorus, revelling in his good luck.
Walk Like a Panther album description: It is a film with a little fun and lots of thin British sense of humor. It is rather a drama than a comedy as it is positioned. Though, you know, there is not a single comedy from the UK that would not be a drama too. There is always drama in UK’s comedies, we really don’t know why. You get the same downhill mood after watching it as you do after continuous listening to ‘Twilight’ by Frédéric Chopin. Very sad, as if something good and lasting ends, to which you were connected for a reasonable amount of years. In the film, this is the end of a local bar The Half Nelson, which is about to close.