"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.
Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind's elation
And little girls from Sweden dream of silver screen quotation
And if you want these kind of dreams it's Californication
It's the edge of the world and all of Western civilization
The sun may rise in the East, at least it settled in a final location
It's understood that Hollywood sells Californication
Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging
Celebrity skin, is this your chin, or is that war you're waging?
First born unicorn
Hardcore soft porn
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Marry me, girl, be my fairy to the world, be my very own constellation
A teenage bride with a baby inside getting high on information
And buy me a star on the boulevard, it's Californication
Space may be the final frontier, but it's made in a Hollywood basement
And Cobain, can you hear the spheres singing songs off Station To Station?
And Alderaan's not far away, it's Californication
Born and raised by those who praise control of population
Well, everybody's been there and I don't mean on vacation
First born unicorn
Hardcore soft porn
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Destruction leads to a very rough road, but it also breeds creation
And earthquakes are to a girl's guitar, they're just another good vibration
And tidal waves couldn't save the world from Californication
Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging
Sicker than the rest, there is no test, but this is what you're craving
First born unicorn
Hardcore soft porn
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
And little girls from Sweden dream of silver screen quotation
And if you want these kind of dreams it's Californication
It's the edge of the world and all of Western civilization
The sun may rise in the East, at least it settled in a final location
It's understood that Hollywood sells Californication
Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging
Celebrity skin, is this your chin, or is that war you're waging?
First born unicorn
Hardcore soft porn
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Marry me, girl, be my fairy to the world, be my very own constellation
A teenage bride with a baby inside getting high on information
And buy me a star on the boulevard, it's Californication
Space may be the final frontier, but it's made in a Hollywood basement
And Cobain, can you hear the spheres singing songs off Station To Station?
And Alderaan's not far away, it's Californication
Born and raised by those who praise control of population
Well, everybody's been there and I don't mean on vacation
First born unicorn
Hardcore soft porn
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Destruction leads to a very rough road, but it also breeds creation
And earthquakes are to a girl's guitar, they're just another good vibration
And tidal waves couldn't save the world from Californication
Pay your surgeon very well to break the spell of aging
Sicker than the rest, there is no test, but this is what you're craving
First born unicorn
Hardcore soft porn
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Dream of Californication
Lyrics submitted by The Marine, edited by Paymaan, dilkas, somedude41, gothic1027, roryokane
Californication Lyrics as written by John Anthony Frusciante Michael Peter Balzary
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Dreamwalker
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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.
i think califorication is up there as one of the best written songs of all time. its one of those songs that shows you that with the evolution of pop music that lyrics dont mater anymore. play this song to your average pop or indeed hiphop fan (witch are genres of music that just needs a catchy beat and chorus to become popular) and they will not be very pleased why? because it doesnt talk about the things that please the average person like love or partying (witch is the description of every pop song now a days). i often think to myself that i would love to go back in time and live in the 90's where mtv wasn't around. now music is solely about making money rihanna,taylor swift,one direction ext... dont make music because they enjoy it they do it for money fame.i only listen to rock and rap because i think its only pure type of music now a days. and the worst thing is 99.9% of new rap is about money,cars,girls and how much of a dam hustler this person is. i find myself only listening to the classics like wu tang clan,mobb depp and snoop dogg (the old stuff even snoop dog has jumped in the commercial blender). hell ever the cracks are begging to show on my precious rock. some would disagree but give it a year and rock will go from being the only raw thing left to being just another money making way out of dealing with life.
ross black (rossy440) aged 14
@rossy440 I'm no fan of pop music, but I think this one is pretty catchy, despite being a great song :)<br /> <br /> I hate to disappoint you but not only did MTV exist in the '90s, but in fact by that time it was very very popular (it started sometime in the early '80s, not sure of the year). I think what was really different about the '90s was that the internet had not become buried in commercialism like it is today. Even net neutrality (which I used to regard as one of the chief ideals defining what I believed the internet ought to be), where it could be said to exist, seems (combined with increased speed and other technological improvements) mostly to have resulted in the mindless self-promotion of cheap blogs, personal pages on social media sites, etc.<br /> <br /> Wherever you are, Ross, I hope you've found a cool music scene. FWIW I think it's not that there isn't any good music being created, but rather that the total amount of good music hasn't increased while bad music is everywhere (it also seems to be hugely popular, but perhaps that has always been the case).