"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.
When I was young my father said
'Son I have something to say'
And what he told me I'll never forget
Until my dying days
[Chorus:]
He said son you are a bachelor boy
And that's the way to stay
Son you'll be a bachelor boy
Until your dying days
When I was 16 I fell in love
With a girl as sweet as can be
But I remembered just in time
What my daddy said to me
[Chorus]
As time goes by I probably will
Meet a girl and fall in love
Then I'll get married have a wife and a child
And they'll be my turtle doves
But until then I'll be a bachelor boy
And that's the way I'll stay
Happy to be a bachelor boy
Until my dying days
'Son I have something to say'
And what he told me I'll never forget
Until my dying days
[Chorus:]
He said son you are a bachelor boy
And that's the way to stay
Son you'll be a bachelor boy
Until your dying days
When I was 16 I fell in love
With a girl as sweet as can be
But I remembered just in time
What my daddy said to me
[Chorus]
As time goes by I probably will
Meet a girl and fall in love
Then I'll get married have a wife and a child
And they'll be my turtle doves
But until then I'll be a bachelor boy
And that's the way I'll stay
Happy to be a bachelor boy
Until my dying days
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Ebba Grön
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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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”
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
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“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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“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.
You can't spell the word 'bachelor'
haha...so true..
This song is either about 1) self fulfilling prophecy or 2) a parent's wish being adhered to much longer than necessary. See the movie Honeymoon in Vegas. . The last verse seems contradictory because he speculates that he will do the opposite of what his father said yet he talks about the father's prediction being true for the rest of his life.
This is interesting, because as far as I am aware, Cliff Richards remains a Bachelor. I do wonder if it may be prophetic. When my elder brother was very young, perhaps 9 or 10, we are talking around sixty years ago, he entered a talent completion, signing this song, which he won. Tragically, at age 16 he was killed in a road accident. A bachelor to his dying day.
The first 45 rpm single I ever bought. Liked the B side ‘The Next Time’ better after I had listened to it
DEATH! IT'S ALL ABOUT EMOTIONAL PAIN AND DEATH! DEATH BY MURDER, DEATH FROM DISEASE, OR OLD AGE. ANY KIND OF DEATH!