"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.
In the morning I wake up
And in the night I sleep
Since the day that I was born
Repeat, repeat, repeat
Brought to this life
Born to this life
Where was I before?
Non-existent? Not at all?
Will I ever know?
Today is my birthday
And I get one every year
And some day
Hard to believe
But I'll be buried six feet underground
Subconsciously motivated natural instinct
Alter nature for the pleasure
Orthocycline
I flirt with conception
Slow the cycle
Will the baby grow?
Social tradition interference
Control, control, control
Today is my birthday
And I get one every year
And some day
Hard to believe
But I'll be buried six feet underground
I'll be dead and gone, no longer around
Spinning, spinning
Before I can recall
All the unknown chemicals
Control the cycle
The successive generation
From dust to dust
Burying my grandma
Then give birth to my own daughter
Today is my birthday
And I get one every year
And some day
Hard to believe
But I'll be buried six feet underground
Today is my birthday
And I get one every year
And some day
Hard to believe
But I'll be buried six feet underground
And I'll be dead and gone, no longer around
I'll be buried six feet underground
And in the night I sleep
Since the day that I was born
Repeat, repeat, repeat
Brought to this life
Born to this life
Where was I before?
Non-existent? Not at all?
Will I ever know?
Today is my birthday
And I get one every year
And some day
Hard to believe
But I'll be buried six feet underground
Subconsciously motivated natural instinct
Alter nature for the pleasure
Orthocycline
I flirt with conception
Slow the cycle
Will the baby grow?
Social tradition interference
Control, control, control
Today is my birthday
And I get one every year
And some day
Hard to believe
But I'll be buried six feet underground
I'll be dead and gone, no longer around
Spinning, spinning
Before I can recall
All the unknown chemicals
Control the cycle
The successive generation
From dust to dust
Burying my grandma
Then give birth to my own daughter
Today is my birthday
And I get one every year
And some day
Hard to believe
But I'll be buried six feet underground
Today is my birthday
And I get one every year
And some day
Hard to believe
But I'll be buried six feet underground
And I'll be dead and gone, no longer around
I'll be buried six feet underground
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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Head > Heels
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“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.
I think this song is just simply about realizing the whole human experience. We live we die. No one knows where we come from or where we will go. Everything we experience is ours alone, but at the same time it fits into history, into the collective of our species.
I think it captures the helplessness of the human existence. We attempt to control the cycle. We can stop conception, delay the next generation but in the long run we will all die, just as we were all born.
It's existential. Facing your own death. Rarely do you find a song that speaks of such things.
i love this song.. hello... does anyone care?
im with you lol
I listen to this song every year on my birthday. xD
i love this song too :D
love this song! it's my wake up song. i dance around in my bra+panties to it. just a random side note there. haha oh goodness. LOVE this song.
ummmm i cant believe there are only 4 comments on this song.... this song is amazing...
I really like this song.
I listen to it every year on my birthday. Heh.
I miss ND sooo much. when gwen was writting songs that had some meaning...
this is the shit!!!
This song is very similar to how I treat my birthdays. I get one every year, and it's just the same ol' same ol'. Out of all the things I can control (conception, especially- thanks, birth control!), I can't control me getting older, so I don't make a big fuss about it.
So I also listen to this song every year, at least once, on my birthday. XD