"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.
Many's the time I ran with you down
The rainy roads of our old town
Many the lives we lived in each day
And buried altogether
Don't laugh at me
Don't look away
You'll follow me back with the sun in your eyes
And on your own
Bed shaped
In legs of stone
You'll knock on my door and up we'll go
In white light
I don't think so
But what do I know
What do I know
I know
I know you think I'm holding you down
And I've fallen by the wayside now
And I don't understand the same things as you
But I do
Don't laugh at me
Don't look away
You'll follow me back with the sun in your eyes
And on your own
Bed shaped
In legs of stone
You'll knock on my door and up we'll go
In white light
I don't think so
But what do I know
What do I know
I know
and up we'll go
In white light
I don't think so
But what do I know
What do I know
I know
The rainy roads of our old town
Many the lives we lived in each day
And buried altogether
Don't laugh at me
Don't look away
You'll follow me back with the sun in your eyes
And on your own
Bed shaped
In legs of stone
You'll knock on my door and up we'll go
In white light
I don't think so
But what do I know
What do I know
I know
I know you think I'm holding you down
And I've fallen by the wayside now
And I don't understand the same things as you
But I do
Don't laugh at me
Don't look away
You'll follow me back with the sun in your eyes
And on your own
Bed shaped
In legs of stone
You'll knock on my door and up we'll go
In white light
I don't think so
But what do I know
What do I know
I know
and up we'll go
In white light
I don't think so
But what do I know
What do I know
I know
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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Ebba Grön
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
i think it's a combination of the ideas mentioned so far
"Many's the time I ran with you down The rainy roads of our old town Many the lives we lived in each day And buried altogether"
the couple had a long happy relationship but she left him (or vice versa)
"Don't laugh at me Don't look away You'll follow me back"
and he's begged and pleaded for her to come back but she thinks it's silly how he's reacted
"With the sun in your eyes And on your own Bedshaped And legs of stone You'll knock on my door And up we'll go In white light I don't think so"
now he's left dreaming about her coming back to him on her own. 'bedshaped' indicating that it's a dream (as in shaped by the bed, not shaped like a bed). the 'legs of stone' meaning that she'll never leave again.
"But what do I know What do I know? I know"
in his head he doubts she'll come back but he still believes she will in his heart
Actually i believe that this song is talking about her leaving and then coming back to him. Bedshaped not meaning it's a dream rather the shape of her body. it says she will come back to him with the sun in her eyes, on her own, bedshaped (=her body is bedshaped from the long hours she spent crying on her bed), two legs of stone (she hasn't gone out or gotten out of bed for a really long time so it'll be hard for her to walk).<br /> and then he says "i don't think so" meaning he won't allow her to come back to him after she hurt him as much as she did.