"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.
Young Johnny
he really had a way
he did his homework on the schoolbus
and always got an A
and the girls like Johnny
more than anyone except maybe Elton John
later on in high school
he couldn't keep his red suspenders on
oh where's Johnny
has he gone away
oh where's Johnny
will he back back someday
He had a room full of trophies
from the track meets and tennis games he'd win
he was a full blown whiz kid
bound to be a Renaissance man
then he went on off to college
got his head stuck in a different state of mind
when they asked him was it alcohol
he told 'em it was nothin' of the kind
just life
just life Mom
oh where's Johnny
has he gone away
oh where's Johnny
will he back back someday
but Johnny's alright
he just turned out his lights
they'd have paid it no mind
had he not been so bright
he opened up his eyes
and snapped out in a groove
he saw both sides of everthing
and found he could not move
Johnny moved back home
now he reads a lot of poetry and plays
he'll sit out in the backyard
and not say a word to anyone for days
and his folks gave up
they no longer even bother gettin' through
he's 30 odd years old
I guess they figured there's just so much you can do
his mother keeps his pictures
in the scrapbook in the drawer with her pearls
and she polishes the trophies
that he won back when they thought he'd save the world
back when the girls liked Johnny
more than anyone except maybe Elton John
she wonders wheres her little boy
with the braces and the red suspenders gone
just life
just life Mom
just life
just life...
he really had a way
he did his homework on the schoolbus
and always got an A
and the girls like Johnny
more than anyone except maybe Elton John
later on in high school
he couldn't keep his red suspenders on
oh where's Johnny
has he gone away
oh where's Johnny
will he back back someday
He had a room full of trophies
from the track meets and tennis games he'd win
he was a full blown whiz kid
bound to be a Renaissance man
then he went on off to college
got his head stuck in a different state of mind
when they asked him was it alcohol
he told 'em it was nothin' of the kind
just life
just life Mom
oh where's Johnny
has he gone away
oh where's Johnny
will he back back someday
but Johnny's alright
he just turned out his lights
they'd have paid it no mind
had he not been so bright
he opened up his eyes
and snapped out in a groove
he saw both sides of everthing
and found he could not move
Johnny moved back home
now he reads a lot of poetry and plays
he'll sit out in the backyard
and not say a word to anyone for days
and his folks gave up
they no longer even bother gettin' through
he's 30 odd years old
I guess they figured there's just so much you can do
his mother keeps his pictures
in the scrapbook in the drawer with her pearls
and she polishes the trophies
that he won back when they thought he'd save the world
back when the girls liked Johnny
more than anyone except maybe Elton John
she wonders wheres her little boy
with the braces and the red suspenders gone
just life
just life Mom
just life
just life...
Lyrics submitted by spickly
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.