You Got a Fast Car, I Got a Plan To Get Us Out of Here

Submission 1,421

About

You Got a Fast Car, I Got a Plan To Get Us Out of Here refers to lyrics from Tracy Chapman's song "Fast Car" which earned a TikTok trend in 2023 and became an image caption trend on Twitter / X in 2024. On TikTok, creators used the song as a sound to portray scenarios that'd prompt them to leave quickly in a fast car. On X, creators used the lyrics like a catchphrase by captioning images and videos of funny vehicles with it. Also, a viral video of a woman in a blue snapback, checkered shirt, jeans and flip-flops went viral on TikTok in 2023, posted by TikToker @Youcantridemybike. Many LGBTQ+ creators labeled the woman as a "butch lesbian" and made homage content that humorously idolized her by replicating her mannerisms and outifit.

Origin

On April 15th, 1998, the song "Fast Car" was released as the second track on Tracy Chapman's self-titled album.^[1] The music video for the song was shared by Tracy Chapman's YouTube^[2] channel on November 9th, 2015, gaining over 83.5 million views and 766,000 likes in nine years. At the song's 0:49-minute mark, Chapman sings "You got a fast car. I got a plan to get us out of here" (shown below).

The first known viral usage of the song and its lyrics was a quote shared by X^[3] user @ellesep on November 4th, 2020, who humorously proposed that the first five words of the national anthem were "You got a fast car," gaining over 1,100 likes in four years (shown below).

Spread

On June 21st, 2021, TikToker^[4] @devonz_savagerecovery posted one of the first viral uses of Chapman's song on the app, outlining a humorous scenario of "Trying to convince the girl at the trap with a car to keep the money take the drugz and get a motel," gaining over 178,400 plays and 12,900 likes in three years (shown below, left).

On May 10th, 2022, TikToker^[5] @legitpat used the song to prove that he could Nae Nae to any song, receiving over 665,400 plays and 48,500 likes in two years (shown below, right).

On August 13th, 2022, TikToker^[6] @deliciouslyfitnhealthy posted a video in which she quickly ushered her children out of a non-child-proof home, coinciding with the lyrics of "Fast Car." The video received over 7 million plays and 457,600 likes in two years. It inspired numerous TikToks^[7]^[8] in 2022 and 2023 that used the same format.

Youcantridemybike's "Fast Car" TikTok

On April 13th, 2023, TikToker^[9] @youcantridemybike posted a video in which she was wearing a blue-and-white snapback, a blue-and-white checkered shirt, blue jeans and flip-flops while lip-dubbing Chapman's "Fast Car," looking up into the camera and pacing around. The video received over 8.5 million plays and 627,000 likes in 10 months (shown below).

TikTokers started to duet the video soon after, recreating @youcantridemybike's mannerisms and outfit. The first known to do so was TikToker^[10] @wackson_22 on April 25th, 2023, gaining over 451,900 plays and 33,700 likes in 10 months (shown below, left).

The homages became increasingly viral, like one posted by TikToker^[11] @.ilovefruitman on June 12th, 2023, earning over 2.2 million plays and 384,300 likes in eight months (shown below, right).

Further Spread

Posts referencing the lyrics of "Fast Car" went viral in late 2023 and early 2024. For instance, on November 16th, 2023, the X^[12] account @OKWildlifeDept posted an image of a deer, captioned, "🎶 You got a fast car, I got a plan to run in front of it 🎶," gaining over 33,000 likes in three months (shown below, left).

On February 5th, 2024, X^[13] user @Pr0sttti0nWh0re used the lyrics to caption a car with text reading, "Skinny girl," receiving over 5,100 likes in two days (shown below, right).

Going into February 2024, usage of the lyrics as an image caption trended en masse, evident in a post shared by X^[14] user @kenzianidiot later on February 5th, 2024, that referenced The Driving Crooner, earning over 15,000 likes in two days (shown below).