"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.
Hey brother christian with your high and mighty errand
Your actions speak so loud I can't hear a word you're saying
Hey sister bleeding heart with all of your compassion
Your labors soothe the hurt but can't assuage temptation
Hey man of science with your perfect rules of measure
Can you improve this place with the data that you gather
Hey mother mercy can your loins bear fruit forever?
Is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?
I want to conquer the world
Give all the idiots a brand new religion
Put an end to poverty, uncleanliness and toil
Promote equality in all of my decisions
With a quick wink of the eye and a "god you must be joking!"
Hey mister diplomat with your worldly aspirations
Did you see your children cry when you left them at the station?
Hey moral soldier you've got righteous proclamation
And precious tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations
I want to conquer the world
Expose the culprits and feed them to the children
I'll do away with air pollution
And then I'll save the whales
We'll have peace on earth
And global communion
Your actions speak so loud I can't hear a word you're saying
Hey sister bleeding heart with all of your compassion
Your labors soothe the hurt but can't assuage temptation
Hey man of science with your perfect rules of measure
Can you improve this place with the data that you gather
Hey mother mercy can your loins bear fruit forever?
Is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?
I want to conquer the world
Give all the idiots a brand new religion
Put an end to poverty, uncleanliness and toil
Promote equality in all of my decisions
With a quick wink of the eye and a "god you must be joking!"
Hey mister diplomat with your worldly aspirations
Did you see your children cry when you left them at the station?
Hey moral soldier you've got righteous proclamation
And precious tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations
I want to conquer the world
Expose the culprits and feed them to the children
I'll do away with air pollution
And then I'll save the whales
We'll have peace on earth
And global communion
Lyrics submitted by oofus, edited by Mellow_Harsher
I Want to Conquer the World Lyrics as written by Brett Gurewitz
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
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.
This song is what, 22 years old now? More? How old are you people who can't write a single literate sentence to discuss it? Can't you find some newer music to prattle on about?
Cultural history lesson: "Saving the whales" is a term applied to the foolish pursuits of bleeding-heart do-gooders who think they can "conquer the world," "improve this place," etc. It is a clue that at least some of the content of the song is ironic. (Simple definition of irony: when you say something but mean the opposite.)
More irony: "give all the idiots a brand-new religion." Do you think Bad Religion the band would consider a new religion of any stripe to be a good thing?
So is B.R. saying they don't care what happens? Not at all. They're criticizing the messianic complexes held by a) Christians, b) liberal do-gooders (Sister Bleeding Heart could also apply to a nun or Catholic charity worker, i.e., Mother Teresa type,) c) rationalists who have faith in science and technology, d)not sure who exactly "Mother Mercy" with her fecund loins represents, e) diplomats and government types, f) probably right-wing "moral soldiers." That is, the song addresses a wide gamut, including non-religious people.
The basic meaning is that no matter who you are or what you believe or how smart you think you are, you're and idiot and an asshole if you think you have the answers to all the world's problems.
ps - my insults were more aimed at earlier posters than the ones right above mine. Those guys can spell!
Mother mercy I always thought to be a reference to evangelicals, especially since since he says "will your loins bear fruit forever" and talks about her "fecundity" Also, I don't know if you noticed how ironic it is that he criticizes just about everybody. I think the main point of the song is not that all of these people are wrong, just that no one is always right. The fact that he says he wants to do away with air pollution and save the whales, I interpreted to mean, is his awareness that ideals and reality rarely reflect one another.
@Spinxis This is an incredibly late response, but I always took when he talks of Mother Mercy's loins bearing fruit forever are people who give to charity; can they actually spare the resources or are they giving away something they need just to look good?<br /> <br /> Essentially, if you don't have the means, don't give it away just to seem polite.
I love this song. It really says alot to me about what's wrong with politics and religion in the world.
yeah...they aren't some little morons who have a problem with everyone for no reason. These guys are brilliant and , franky, fucking right.
the glowing? has bad religion ever said that that is what this song is about?
it seems pretty clear that it is not about that to me.
i think he is using sarcasim....from governments point of view....like what the presidents "say" they will do for our "great" nation but just want complete control....just giving the idiots a brand new religion....hes mimicing them.....being what he despises....but also saying what he truly feels....but he is aware that the human instinct of GREED will kick in once they obtain.....
I believe the quote by Lord Acton is a great way to describe this song: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Basically, the song is sung from some one who is not in power, therefore, he has the best of intentions if he were given that authority - he'd save the wales, and create peace on earth.
Unfortunately, when someone DOES have that power, they don't waste their time helping the greater good or doing those things they promise.
I believe the song is quite a satire on Political races. The canidates will say what everone wants to hear, but never actually do those things, had they the power.
Bad Religion simply kicks ass, very intelligent lyrics that make you think about the world we live in.
This song is so awesome! It's one of my fav. Bad Religoin songs. These guys kick ass!
As others have said, thought-provoking lyrics. Also, makes me want to get up and DO something about all the problems, since the simple solutions sometimes are lost in red tape, I think..
yeah this song kicks ass and damn do they use words that are so damn descriptive soo intelligent and all those things said in that song are true which is important needless to say