"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.
Children are lovely before they get ugly,
And learn to do bad stuff.
Flowers are pretty before they get shitty,
And rot and turn to dust
I heard that life is a wheel
And you can't make it stop
If you try it'll flatten your head
It's a circle of shit
We're in the middle of it
But soon we'll all be dead
Like everybody else
That ever lived before,
The things you make fall to the floor
And nobody knows how hard you tried,
It's been that way since the start of time
There was a caveman that did some amazing things
But nobody here gives a fuck
And in a thousand years they'll feel the same
Towards all the things you've done
Chorus:
So don't worry what might give you cancer
Or stay up nights just wanting answers
It's just a crap shoot, but it's mostly crap
Things start off they're so terrific
They'll fuck up, it's scientific
Entropy, uncertainty won't yield to you
Love at first sight on a beautiful night
And a feeling so divine
Gets sucked down the toilet
'cause something will spoil it
With the good times left behind you
Don't try to figure out who's at fault
Powerful forces abound
Like a twig on a river in the universe
Tomorrow you'll probably drown
Chorus:
So don't worry if it is a tumor
All this will be over sooner
It's just a crap shoot, but it's mostly crap
Things start off they're so terrific
They'll fuck up, it's scientific
Entropy, uncertainty won't yield to you or you
And all the things that matter most
Disappear, here's a toast
To erosion and corrosion,
Altimizers and pain
Don't try to figure out who's at fault
There's powerful forces at play
And if you lose your legs and have to beg
It's really all the same
Chorus:
So don't worry what might give you cancer
Or stay up nights just wanting answers
It's just a crap shoot, but it's mostly crap
Things start off they're so terrific
They'll fuck up, it's scientific
Entropy, uncertainty won't yield to you, or you
And learn to do bad stuff.
Flowers are pretty before they get shitty,
And rot and turn to dust
I heard that life is a wheel
And you can't make it stop
If you try it'll flatten your head
It's a circle of shit
We're in the middle of it
But soon we'll all be dead
Like everybody else
That ever lived before,
The things you make fall to the floor
And nobody knows how hard you tried,
It's been that way since the start of time
There was a caveman that did some amazing things
But nobody here gives a fuck
And in a thousand years they'll feel the same
Towards all the things you've done
Chorus:
So don't worry what might give you cancer
Or stay up nights just wanting answers
It's just a crap shoot, but it's mostly crap
Things start off they're so terrific
They'll fuck up, it's scientific
Entropy, uncertainty won't yield to you
Love at first sight on a beautiful night
And a feeling so divine
Gets sucked down the toilet
'cause something will spoil it
With the good times left behind you
Don't try to figure out who's at fault
Powerful forces abound
Like a twig on a river in the universe
Tomorrow you'll probably drown
Chorus:
So don't worry if it is a tumor
All this will be over sooner
It's just a crap shoot, but it's mostly crap
Things start off they're so terrific
They'll fuck up, it's scientific
Entropy, uncertainty won't yield to you or you
And all the things that matter most
Disappear, here's a toast
To erosion and corrosion,
Altimizers and pain
Don't try to figure out who's at fault
There's powerful forces at play
And if you lose your legs and have to beg
It's really all the same
Chorus:
So don't worry what might give you cancer
Or stay up nights just wanting answers
It's just a crap shoot, but it's mostly crap
Things start off they're so terrific
They'll fuck up, it's scientific
Entropy, uncertainty won't yield to you, or you
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
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
Radiohead
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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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
a song to cheer u up