"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 to a minor place
and I can say I like its face
if I am gone and with no trace
I will be in a minor place
well I put the shoes in line
separate the women mine
as we do what we do fine
so victorious, so benign
chorus
only take the weather warm
and the job that does me harm
the scars of last year's storm
rest like maggots on my arm
chorus
thank you man if for the thought
that all my loving can be bought
was wisely in your gullet caught
before my loyalty you sought
chorus
o it's not a desert nor a web
nor a tomb where I lay dead
minor in a sound alone
yes a clear commanding tone
singing from my little point
and aching in my every joint
I thank the world it will anoint me
if I show it how I hold it
and I can say I like its face
if I am gone and with no trace
I will be in a minor place
well I put the shoes in line
separate the women mine
as we do what we do fine
so victorious, so benign
chorus
only take the weather warm
and the job that does me harm
the scars of last year's storm
rest like maggots on my arm
chorus
thank you man if for the thought
that all my loving can be bought
was wisely in your gullet caught
before my loyalty you sought
chorus
o it's not a desert nor a web
nor a tomb where I lay dead
minor in a sound alone
yes a clear commanding tone
singing from my little point
and aching in my every joint
I thank the world it will anoint me
if I show it how I hold it
Lyrics submitted by cardamom
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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.
No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
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“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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
Also, minor chords (guitar an other) sound distinctively more melancholy than major chords.
@fanoftheelipsis But, ironically, the song is in a major key. Because when he's in his minor place, he's nowhere to be seen or heard.