"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.
Thirty licks with a belt - same old tricks on myself
And I wonder does everyone else live this way
A succession of tests a triumphant success
Each time I'm still intact at the end of the day
thirty drops in a glass - keep my temper and pass
With my breath held you bastards you lucked out again!
Its not really so bad, there's still mom there's still
Damage to do before they wrest the axe from my hands
its no mystery: you should obviously go
Before I break everything
You're always telling me that you're dying to know
But you're not really listening
how do I manage to station myself in harms way
And only get hit with a ticket for loitering
That I have no way to pay - and no strength to argue
My personal demons can scheme with professional care
Oh, god, they're after me
If I could shut them out just for an second
I swear
I could stop this catastrophe
thirty day guarantee
But they can't have meant me
After all I was born to a childproof world
No sharp corners or glass,
Small objects or plastic bags
Please, these are death to a delicate girl
its no mystery - you should obviously know
That I'll destroy everything
So don't go telling me that you're dying to know
Cause you'll get what you're asking for
and I still manage to station my self in harm's way
And only get hit with a ticket for loitering
Stating I came the wrong day
Now all the demons are screaming their wages aren't fair
I've left a secret kept
If I could shut them up just for a second I swear
It'll look like an accident
I could be decent yet
The magnificent end
I could be president....
And I wonder does everyone else live this way
A succession of tests a triumphant success
Each time I'm still intact at the end of the day
thirty drops in a glass - keep my temper and pass
With my breath held you bastards you lucked out again!
Its not really so bad, there's still mom there's still
Damage to do before they wrest the axe from my hands
its no mystery: you should obviously go
Before I break everything
You're always telling me that you're dying to know
But you're not really listening
how do I manage to station myself in harms way
And only get hit with a ticket for loitering
That I have no way to pay - and no strength to argue
My personal demons can scheme with professional care
Oh, god, they're after me
If I could shut them out just for an second
I swear
I could stop this catastrophe
thirty day guarantee
But they can't have meant me
After all I was born to a childproof world
No sharp corners or glass,
Small objects or plastic bags
Please, these are death to a delicate girl
its no mystery - you should obviously know
That I'll destroy everything
So don't go telling me that you're dying to know
Cause you'll get what you're asking for
and I still manage to station my self in harm's way
And only get hit with a ticket for loitering
Stating I came the wrong day
Now all the demons are screaming their wages aren't fair
I've left a secret kept
If I could shut them up just for a second I swear
It'll look like an accident
I could be decent yet
The magnificent end
I could be president....
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
I Can't Go To Sleep
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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.
Punchline
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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.
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.
i believe its " my personal demons can scheme with professional flair."
'stead of
"My personal demons can skeeve with professional care"
ooh... lizzie borden. excellent explanation. its such a beautiful song.