"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.
I've been waiting just a long time
Just trying to get through
And it's taking all of my strength
To keep me here away from you
It doesn't matter
Just how long it takes
Nothing changes
When we're apart
It's just a little bit longer
We've come this far
One step closer to heaven baby
Means one step closer to you
There'll be no more livin'
Without you baby
I'll be counting each minute
'Till i'm back to you
One step closer to heaven baby
Hold on hold on
Hold on to my lovin'
I've been saving every little bit
Of my love for you
I've been dreaming just to get by
It's so exciting, Fantasising
It doesn't matter
Just how long it takes
Just to know
We'll be back together
And this time its forever
One step closer to heaven baby
Means one step closer to you
There'll be no more livin'
Without you baby
I'll be counting each minute
'Till I'm back to you
One step closer to heaven baby
Hold on hold on
Hold on to my lovin'
It doesn't matter
Just how long it takes
Nothing changes
When we're apart
It's just a little bit longer
We've come this far
One step closer to heaven baby
Means one step closer to you
There'll be no more livin'
Without you baby
I'll be counting each minute
'Till i'm back to you
One step closer to heaven baby
Hold on hold on
Hold on to my lovin'
Just trying to get through
And it's taking all of my strength
To keep me here away from you
It doesn't matter
Just how long it takes
Nothing changes
When we're apart
It's just a little bit longer
We've come this far
One step closer to heaven baby
Means one step closer to you
There'll be no more livin'
Without you baby
I'll be counting each minute
'Till i'm back to you
One step closer to heaven baby
Hold on hold on
Hold on to my lovin'
I've been saving every little bit
Of my love for you
I've been dreaming just to get by
It's so exciting, Fantasising
It doesn't matter
Just how long it takes
Just to know
We'll be back together
And this time its forever
One step closer to heaven baby
Means one step closer to you
There'll be no more livin'
Without you baby
I'll be counting each minute
'Till I'm back to you
One step closer to heaven baby
Hold on hold on
Hold on to my lovin'
It doesn't matter
Just how long it takes
Nothing changes
When we're apart
It's just a little bit longer
We've come this far
One step closer to heaven baby
Means one step closer to you
There'll be no more livin'
Without you baby
I'll be counting each minute
'Till i'm back to you
One step closer to heaven baby
Hold on hold on
Hold on to my lovin'
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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Ed Sheeran
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American Town
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Ed Sheeran
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this is just terrible, not just the whole corporate bitches thing these kids have got going on but the fact these kids are like 11 or 12 and they're 'singing' love songs?
What do these kids know about that (albeit they didn't write the lyrics themselves), talking about not "living without you baby". Yeah i can really see a bunch of 11 year old kids thinking that sort of thing.