"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.
She's got dreams dreams that he's got things
That'll open up her sky so she can use her wings
To fly away
she looks out her window
Watching people as they pass on by
Some of them want to come inside
Man oh man one on one I wonder which one will she trust
'Cause some men only lust
And she wants a man who can understand
What a woman wants and if he can appreciate her and not deface her
And she wants a king with a diamond ring
Not some prince charming who's gonna steal everything that he gave her
Yeah
She's got to fly away (uh 1-2, uh 1-2, uh 1-2)
I watch her walk next to you but soon
She's got to get away (oh that's true, oh that's true, oh that's true)
I hope her dreams do come true
'Cause she is a butterfly
Spreadin spreadin spreadin spreadin
Spreading her wings
(She's beautiful, she's beautiful, she's beautiful)
But her heart is a kingdom without a king
And without him she can't sing
So she waits on a watchtower
Hoping praying waiting for his arrival (and all the people in the world say)
And then they'll
And she wants a family (family) she wants a lover (lover)
She wants a best friend closer than any other
A man that's true she wants a man who
Can hear god's voice and know what he is called to do
She wants a hard worker not some lazy bum
But a man who knows how to get the job done
She wants a family to be a mother and raise a child that came from her
Yeah
She's got dreams dreams that he's got things things
That'll open up her sky so she can use her wings
To (to to) fly away
She's got dreams dreams that he's got things things
That'll open up her sky so she can use her wings
To (to to) fly away
She's got to fly away (fly away)
She's got to find her way
She's got to fly away
She's on the ground learning to fly but she's flying now
She's on the ground it's time to fly she's gonna fly now
She's on the ground looking down it's time to fly ya'll
She's on the ground but watch her rise and fly away
She was looking down but now she's looking to the sky ya'll
Spreading her wings to give it a try give it a try give it a try
To fly away when the rest of the girls are on the fall ya'll
She's spreading her wings to fly away
'Cause she's got dreams dreams that he's got things things
That'll open up her sky so she can use her wings
To (to to) fly away
That'll open up her sky so she can use her wings
To fly away
she looks out her window
Watching people as they pass on by
Some of them want to come inside
Man oh man one on one I wonder which one will she trust
'Cause some men only lust
And she wants a man who can understand
What a woman wants and if he can appreciate her and not deface her
And she wants a king with a diamond ring
Not some prince charming who's gonna steal everything that he gave her
Yeah
She's got to fly away (uh 1-2, uh 1-2, uh 1-2)
I watch her walk next to you but soon
She's got to get away (oh that's true, oh that's true, oh that's true)
I hope her dreams do come true
'Cause she is a butterfly
Spreadin spreadin spreadin spreadin
Spreading her wings
(She's beautiful, she's beautiful, she's beautiful)
But her heart is a kingdom without a king
And without him she can't sing
So she waits on a watchtower
Hoping praying waiting for his arrival (and all the people in the world say)
And then they'll
And she wants a family (family) she wants a lover (lover)
She wants a best friend closer than any other
A man that's true she wants a man who
Can hear god's voice and know what he is called to do
She wants a hard worker not some lazy bum
But a man who knows how to get the job done
She wants a family to be a mother and raise a child that came from her
Yeah
She's got dreams dreams that he's got things things
That'll open up her sky so she can use her wings
To (to to) fly away
She's got dreams dreams that he's got things things
That'll open up her sky so she can use her wings
To (to to) fly away
She's got to fly away (fly away)
She's got to find her way
She's got to fly away
She's on the ground learning to fly but she's flying now
She's on the ground it's time to fly she's gonna fly now
She's on the ground looking down it's time to fly ya'll
She's on the ground but watch her rise and fly away
She was looking down but now she's looking to the sky ya'll
Spreading her wings to give it a try give it a try give it a try
To fly away when the rest of the girls are on the fall ya'll
She's spreading her wings to fly away
'Cause she's got dreams dreams that he's got things things
That'll open up her sky so she can use her wings
To (to to) fly away
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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The Night We Met
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"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Very chilll song..love it..sounds like hes explaining the perfect person that he knows that is with someone else who he thinks isnt right for her.