"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.
The few surviving samurai survey the battlefield
Count the arms, the legs and heads and then divide by 5
Drenched in blood they move across the screen
Do I need to point or do you see the one I mean
The one in back, the way he acts
Is he reminding you of anyone we know
Isn't he so like certain people I could name
Halfway through the thirty minutes
Halfway round the world
Here's the story on the genocidal overlord
In the palace with her epilettes
Watch her little gestures as she lights her cigarette
Look at her, you must see it too
Is she reminding you of anyone we know
Isn't she so like certain people I could name
Disembodied and detached a voice describes the scene
As a lizard stalks a helpless creature on TV
Music underscores the tragedy
Eyes with no expression watch the unsuspecting prey
Who is it like, doesn't it strike
You as the very image of someone we know
Isn't it so like certain people--how could anybody miss
The obvious and the uncanny and the clear resemblance
Isn't it just like certain people I could name
Count the arms, the legs and heads and then divide by 5
Drenched in blood they move across the screen
Do I need to point or do you see the one I mean
The one in back, the way he acts
Is he reminding you of anyone we know
Isn't he so like certain people I could name
Halfway through the thirty minutes
Halfway round the world
Here's the story on the genocidal overlord
In the palace with her epilettes
Watch her little gestures as she lights her cigarette
Look at her, you must see it too
Is she reminding you of anyone we know
Isn't she so like certain people I could name
Disembodied and detached a voice describes the scene
As a lizard stalks a helpless creature on TV
Music underscores the tragedy
Eyes with no expression watch the unsuspecting prey
Who is it like, doesn't it strike
You as the very image of someone we know
Isn't it so like certain people--how could anybody miss
The obvious and the uncanny and the clear resemblance
Isn't it just like certain people I could name
Lyrics submitted by Irrational
Certain People I Could Name Lyrics as written by John Linnell John Flansburgh
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
The voice is from a bitter and hurt person who watches TV and sees his broken heart in everything he sees on the box.
This is a very sad song. TMBG have good "lovers lament" songs, though you never would know by them being call "quirky" all the time. I think they are brilliant writers.
Actually, I found it to be an amusing song about somebody who is easilly distracted. It's basically the experience of watching shows with a person who never follows the plot and talks a lot.
In the first verse, the singer is watching a violent Japanese war film with us (perhaps in a theater... "moving across the screen" is something which is much more noticable on a wide screen than on a TV, where "pan & scan" cropping ruins those sorts of shots"). Amid the hideous gore, we are elbowed in the ribs because one of the warriors kind of reminds the singer of somebody.
Verse two, 15 minutes into a news broadcast, just as the international news stories are starting (CNN's tag-line used to be "give us 30 minutes, we'll give you the world), the singer again gets a little too enthusiastic about how the female dictator on the screen is a lot like a mutual aquaintance.
Verse three, watching a nature film, this time taken aback by a lizard who looks like "the very image of someone we know".
Obviously not flattering, comparing somebody to a Samurai, a brutal dictator, and a predatory lizzard... but there are lots of reasons to dislike somebody enough to see their faces in such unflattering contexts. I disagree with the notion that it absolutely must be one of their "lovers lament" songs. Now "Twisting"... that's what I call a break-up song!
David- I would buy your analysis if it weren't for the recurring theme. All three characters are sinister in some way. As you've described it the lyrics are meant to be silly. I don't take it that way. There is something deeply sad about this song. It builds beautifully toward an inevitable conclusion. This is probably my favorite TMBG song ever written, and that's saying a lot.
This song makes me wonder... what did someone do to the narrator that he see them in all these evil contexts. they are even so evil that he can't say their name. If I look deep in to the song, I think i see what happened. the course of events is like this: he haves a girlfriend, the "lizard. She is very nice, doing nothing wrong, a perfect girlfriend. He is the "unsuspecting prey". After they are married, she becomes a controlling dictator, so he divorces her. They have a war about who gets the stuff. Once that is over his life is like a battlefield after the battle. They are the "surviving samurai", once together now two seperate people, " Count the arms the legs the heads and then divide by five", what do you get, 2. That is what I think. I could be wrong.
yeah, to me this song is also about a guy who's watching tv and everything he sees reminds him of how cruel his gf or ex-gf was. The samuri just ripping people to pieces, the snobby, cruel image of the overlord, the poor innocent lizard being destroyed while no one seems to notice or care...the lizard is like his heart. :(