"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 your day is long
And the night
The night is yours alone
When you're sure you've had enough
Of this life
Well, hang on
Don't let yourself go
'Cause everybody cries
And everybody hurts sometimes
Sometimes everything is wrong
Now it's time to sing along
When your day is night alone (hold on)
(Hold on) if you feel like letting go (hold on)
If you think you've had too much
Of this life
Well, hang on
'Cause everybody hurts
Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts
Don't throw your hand
Oh, no
Don't throw your hand
If you feel like you're alone
No, no, no, you're not alone
If you're on your own
In this life
The days and nights are long
When you think you've had too much
Of this life
To hang on
Well, everybody hurts sometimes
Everybody cries
And everybody hurts sometimes
And everybody hurts sometimes
So hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Everybody hurts
No, no, no, no, no
You are not alone
And the night
The night is yours alone
When you're sure you've had enough
Of this life
Well, hang on
Don't let yourself go
'Cause everybody cries
And everybody hurts sometimes
Sometimes everything is wrong
Now it's time to sing along
When your day is night alone (hold on)
(Hold on) if you feel like letting go (hold on)
If you think you've had too much
Of this life
Well, hang on
'Cause everybody hurts
Take comfort in your friends
Everybody hurts
Don't throw your hand
Oh, no
Don't throw your hand
If you feel like you're alone
No, no, no, you're not alone
If you're on your own
In this life
The days and nights are long
When you think you've had too much
Of this life
To hang on
Well, everybody hurts sometimes
Everybody cries
And everybody hurts sometimes
And everybody hurts sometimes
So hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Hold on, hold on
Everybody hurts
No, no, no, no, no
You are not alone
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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"
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
Just a quick word on the "It's about Kurt Cobain" comments - Automatic for the People came out in 1992, two years before Kurt Cobain killed himself. A simple google search, that's all it takes sometimes...
It is possible (indeed, likely) to be depressed before you commit suicide. The song may or may not be written with Cobain in mind but the timeline does not exclude the possibility. Besides the song sounds to me to be written for someone who is not yet dead. How can you "hold on" if you've already let go.
Maybe he wrote it for Cobain before he killed himself.
This songs reminds me of how little we know about the people around us until its to late, at some time in our lives someone we know, care about or love will die, some may even kill them selves, its only then we ask ourselves WHY. Why did this happen, why did they do it, why didn’t they come to me, the answer being the same reason when were feeling down we keep it to ourselves, it’s a private hurt that no one else has ever felt and that no one could understand. This songs tells us that everybody hurts sometime, like the tears from a clown, comedians are said to be some of the saddest people in the world hiding there pain by making other people laugh, they use the laughter they create to deflect there inner pain. Some people say that suicide is the cowards way out, far from it its possibly the bravest thing in the world, There is a Cary Grant film the title of which escapes me for now but the idea behind the film is a man finds himself in a situation where he thinks the world and the people he most cares about would be better off without him, an Angel gives him the chance to see the world as if he never existed, the empty lives of the people he had never touched, if only we could all see the difference each and everyone of us makes to the world and the people in it no matter how smaller part we think we play. Someone would miss us all, someone else who hurts just like us just like everybody sometimes
You're thinking of "It's A Wonderful Life" with Jimmy Stewart, not Cary Grant.
@acheron NOT Cary Grant, it was Jimmy Steward and the movies is "It's a Wonderful lIfe" a christmas favorite for many people. enjoy<br />
@acheron
This song gives hope out there for everyone whom has been hurt in the past. Anti-suicide song. I heard Stipe wrote this for Kurt Cobain, but that's only what I heard. This song makes me cry at times too. The music video goes so well with the song. It's just a reassurance kind of song saying "Everybody does hurt, so don't think it's just you.". The end with Stipe singing "Hold on....so hold on". Is very beautiful, and in the video, that being the only thing he is just beautiful.
this song was a plea to american teenagers because at the time the us teenage suicide rate was at an all timme hi
with you on the kurt thing tho<br />
Let Me In is about Kurt Cobain. This song is supposedly what Kurt was listening to when he killed himself.
@TasChiBandGirl This song was written by the drummer Bill Berry, with the intention of reaching out to people on the verge of suicide. It was (apparently) written about no specific person, hence "everybody". And Stipe was probably the closest member to Cobain, so it seems very unlikely that this was written for him, 2 years before his suicide.
it's a good message....stick it out, because everyone hurts sometimes, and just like them, you too will be alright.
this is one of the few songs ever written which everyone, and i mean EVERYONE can relate to at some point, because everyone gets low sometime. and you have to keep hoping. cos everybody hurts. anyways, that's what i think...
I think this song is a big eye opener for a lot of people including me in that at the end of the day we are all mortal meaning we all feel the same, hurt the same and indeed are the same, to deny pain is to deny yourself the freedom of your own emotions, we can't keep things bottled up inside ourselves all the time because that is exactly what causes silent ticking time bombs in society imploding. If only more people were in touch with their emotions then so much internal conflict could be avoided.
This song makes me cry everytime I hear it, of course that may have to do with the fact that the only time I listen to it is when I'm depressed...
Please tell me how in the world R.E.M. managed to write this song and get it exactly RIGHT. The message is clear. It's the only song that I can take any lyric and actually have it comfort me in whatever situation. How did they know just what to say? Amazing song.
Does anybody spot the double meaning of the title lyric "everybody hurts" it can mean two things it can mean that everbody can cause you pain or it could mean everyone experiences pain and suffering like you. I'd really like to know which meaning micheal stipe would prefer us to interpret it as.
This song is so amazing and true. What I get from this song is that if I'm hurting there is always someone out there who is hurting worse. Everyone has baggage, some just have more than others. "When you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on. Don't let yourself go, everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes." But this too, shall pass. "Take comfort in your friends." Because that's all anyone really has. The following is a truism and I am not being facetious: Giving someone in need a million dollars is extremely meritorious, but being a true friend transcends all.
whenever I hear this super song I think of the music video, which I think is one of the most brilliant music videos ever made. All the people stuck in traffic and thinking about the stressful events that drape their everyday lives, then all the sudden its like the light of importance went off and all the people got out of their cars and started walking through the traffic. It goes to show that in life there will always be problems, but in the end eveythings ok.