"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.
Took me a ride 'round the city
Thought I'd look around, see if I'd find another you
Had to be a place wherein they do do what you do
Where I could see what I needed to see yeah
Found me a shrine in the city
Walked to mass swallowed some smoke and rang a bell
Asked if there's a place wherein they do do what you do
But he said Boy don't you know when you got what you had gotta grab it and never let go
Took another ride 'round the city
Took about an hour, crooked old taxi picked me up
Take me to a place wherein they do do what you do
But he said Boy don't you know when you got what you had gotta grab it and never let go
And he said...
Chorus
Ooh, nowhere ain't never gonna find (ooh, nowhere)
I hear the same thing all the time (ooh, nowhere)
Boy you ain't even got a prayer
You won't find that no way nowhere
Nowhere
Boy, don't you know that you get what you get in the city?
Nobody ever delivers the way that you want (a happy ending)
Never, no never give up what you've got 'cause you think there's something better
Chances are there ain't nowhere...nowhere.
No more rides 'round the city
No more nights trying to find another you
Going to a place wherein they don't do what you did
Where I could see what I need to be see
Going far away from the city
Going to a place where I can view a better view
Going to a place where I can get away from you
But I know soon as I get where I'm going you'll get there and get it and grab it and go
And I know...
(Repeat chorus twice)
Nowhere...
Thought I'd look around, see if I'd find another you
Had to be a place wherein they do do what you do
Where I could see what I needed to see yeah
Found me a shrine in the city
Walked to mass swallowed some smoke and rang a bell
Asked if there's a place wherein they do do what you do
But he said Boy don't you know when you got what you had gotta grab it and never let go
Took another ride 'round the city
Took about an hour, crooked old taxi picked me up
Take me to a place wherein they do do what you do
But he said Boy don't you know when you got what you had gotta grab it and never let go
And he said...
Chorus
Ooh, nowhere ain't never gonna find (ooh, nowhere)
I hear the same thing all the time (ooh, nowhere)
Boy you ain't even got a prayer
You won't find that no way nowhere
Nowhere
Boy, don't you know that you get what you get in the city?
Nobody ever delivers the way that you want (a happy ending)
Never, no never give up what you've got 'cause you think there's something better
Chances are there ain't nowhere...nowhere.
No more rides 'round the city
No more nights trying to find another you
Going to a place wherein they don't do what you did
Where I could see what I need to be see
Going far away from the city
Going to a place where I can view a better view
Going to a place where I can get away from you
But I know soon as I get where I'm going you'll get there and get it and grab it and go
And I know...
(Repeat chorus twice)
Nowhere...
Lyrics submitted by tosca
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Lord Huron
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
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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.