Tracy Chapman – Fast Car Essay Example

back the feeling of being free from all the burden. She did not have no restrains anymore and finally, her self assurance came back: "I had a feeling, I could be someone/ be someone be someone." In those two lines, the term "be someone" is a triplet, which is used to emphasize her belief that she could eventually be that person she wanted to be, that she would be able to reach something.

This strengthening can also be seen as a metaphor for her self-consciousness, that was strengthen by breaking out of her old life. But it was not only the speed that gave her that feeling. It was the driver of the car as well, her boyfriend, who was next to her during that turning point in her life. Together, they were driving towards a new place, a place where they could start a new beginning: "Your arm felt nice wrapped round my shoulder." For the first time after her mother had left the family, it was somebody else that took care of her and not the other way around. She had somebody besides her that supported and protected her. For the first time after a long while, she felt being loved.

However, towards the end of the song, the woman is no longer talking about "we" and is using the words "you" and "I" instead. This splitting up can be related to their relationship. Fearing that her partner would convert into the same person as her father, the speaker is not only splitting up the word "we", she is also splitting up with him. "You got a fast car / but is it fast enough

so you can fly away". No longer is she talking about "so that we can fly away". With those words, she is making an explicit request that he should leave her and his children. She wants him to sit in his car alone and to drive away, just as she did some time ago, in the hope that the speed of the fast car would change his life situation as well.

In conclusion, one can see that despite of the title of the song and the repeated use of it, "fast car" is not the main aspect of the song, but rather the meanings and feelings that are associated with it.

In the beginning of the song, the speaker talks about her plans of escaping. Desperately, she is looking for somebody that has got the capable means of transport to take her away from home, away to a new and better place: "I want a ticket to anywhere".

Looking at the first two lines in the beginning of the song, evidence can be found for her despair. "You got a fast car / I want a ticket to anywhere". She wants to leave her home instantly "ticket to anywhere" --> does not have to be a car but just something with which she can go away --> fast = instantly;

"You got a fast car / is it fast enough so we can fly away" seems like she is in a hurry; not drive but fly away. they have to make a decision instantly "leave tonight or live and die this way" --> seems like it would be the last chance for her to flee... pressure

"You got a fast

car / we go cruising to entertain ourselves" --> not to flee but entertainment.

"I got no plans I ain't going nowhere" She does not want to leave her family the way her mother did. The speaker knows too good how it feels to be left. Yet, at the same time, she does not want to live with her former love anymore as he strongly reminds her of her own childhood, of her father. That life, from which she fled together with her boyfriend seems to catch up with her and for this reason she asks him to leave her: "so take your fast car and keep on driving". But this is not just an order. She seems to hope that if he takes his car, the same as they used to drive in, that he would find the same she did --> new place to restart --> not ending up like her father did.